Saudi energy minister threatens oil price gamblers with ‘ouching like hell’ and market destabilization

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has promised to punish excessive betters in the oil markets with an “ouching like hell” by way of externally influencing the market.

Bin Salman’s comments come after he publicly condemned OPEC countries that exceed oil production quotas while enjoying membership of the organization during a virtual meeting with his fellow energy ministers on Thursday.

“Using tactics to overproduce and hide non-compliance [has] been tried many times in the past, and always end[s] in failure. They achieve nothing and bring harm to our reputation and credibility,” bin Salman, said, seemingly referring to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE made just 10 percent of its promised cuts in August, according to the International Energy Agency.

Bin Salman said he would try to make the market jumpy and said gamblers would be "ouching like hell."

He added that non-compliance weakens the collective goals of OPEC and that attempts to “outsmart” the energy market would fail.

OPEC members who have exceeded their quotas, including Nigeria and Iraq, have pledged to make additional cuts in the coming months.

The quotas were initially designed to raise OPEC’s crude oil prices, and bin Salman’s comments appear to have helped them bounce, with prices rising by as much as 2.6 percent on Thursday – their highest level in almost two weeks.

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