Oil posted its largest three-day advance since May after Saudi Arabia forcefully renewed calls for OPEC+ members to adhere to their production quotas. Futures in New York climbed 2% on Thursday to the highest level in two weeks. During the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman condemned cartel members that have cheated on production quotas. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the group should continue to strive for high compliance.
Prince Abdulaziz went as far as to warn short sellers not to challenge the kingdom’s resolve. “I want the guys in the trading floors to be as jumpy as possible,” he said. “I’m going to make sure whoever gambles on this market will be ouching like hell.”
This week, the United Arab Emirates signaled that it would make up for pumping too much oil in the past two months. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said Thursday the U.A.E. has shown its commitment to the cuts and issued a stark warning to oil speculators not to bet against OPEC+.
