Iran’s Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries minister implored President Donald Trump Thursday to stop haranguing the organization about reducing oil prices.
Iranian OPEC Minister Hossein Kazempour Ardebili warned the president that his tweets about oil prices are only helping to drive up international costs. Trump has thumped the organization repeatedly for not opening the spigots to relieve four-year highs.
“Mr. President … OPEC has not defined oil prices for the past 30 years. Your tweets have driven the prices up by at least $10/[barrel]. Please stop, otherwise it will go even higher,” Ardebili said in a press statement Thursday. OPEC agreed in June to increase oil production by 600,000 barrels per day to meet demand, but Trump has not stopped tweeting.
“If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s,” Trump told his Twitter followers Wednesday, referring to the U.S.’ defense of some OPEC nations. “This must be a two-way street. REDUCE PRICING NOW!”
Oil prices are typically determined by the level of production on the international market and geopolitical factors affecting crude producing nations.
Prices fell sharply Thursday after the Energy Information Administration reported an unexpected climb in crude supplies. They rose by 1.2 million barrels, the EIA said. Crude prices are at four-year highs despite the recent rise in supply.
The uptick in prices also comes a month after Trump pulled the U.S. out of a 2015 international agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program, a move some analysts warn would lead to an increase in international prices. (RELATED: OPEC Reaches Decision On Oil Production)
Iran exports 2.4 million barrels a day of crude. Analysts had estimated that anywhere between 400,000 to 1 million barrels could be at risk once sanctions are fully implemented.
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