Maldives backs OPEC+ output cut amid Saudi-US dispute

Maldives on Tuesday entered into an ongoing heated exchange between the United States and Saudi Arabia over the steep cut to output target agreed by OPEC+ alliance last week, adding that the world's biggest oil producers took the decision to stabilise the global oil market rather than for political purposes.

The 13-member Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, which include Russia and go by OPEC+, lowered their production target by 2 million barrels per day last week, even though world supplies are considered tight. Of those cuts, experts expect an actual production cut of about half that level.

The United States last week said the cut would boost Russia's foreign earnings and suggested it had been engineered for political reasons by Saudi Arabia, which on Sunday denied it was supporting Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz said the kingdom was working hard to support stability and balance in oil markets, including establishing and maintaining agreement of the OPEC+ alliance.

The Saudi defence minister, King Salman's son Prince Khalid bin Salman, also said the October 5 decision was unanimous and based on economic factors.

In a statement expressing the Maldives' "firm solidarity" with Saudi Arabia over the OPEC+ decision, the island nation's foreign ministry said the decision was made on purely economic grounds and determined by market variables and other technical considerations.

"The Maldives also notes that the decision of OPEC+ was by consensus of all its members and should furthermore be seen as a positive step to stabilise global oil markets, and not as a politically motivated decision," the statement read. 

"The stability and security of the global energy market is imperative for a Small Island Developing country such as the Maldives who are highly dependent on energy imports."

The Maldives also hailed Saudi Arabia's efforts "to encourage strong and sustained global economic growth". 

The surge in global oil prices, linked to the Russia-Ukraine war, has posed significant financial challenges to the Maldives, which solely relies on imported oil for power generation. According to the latest finance ministry figures: