OPEC SG: Sanctions Against Oil Countries Affect World Economy

The Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Barkindo, in an exclusive interview for teleSUR's international channel, stated this Saturday that sanctions against oil producing countries affect the world's economic dynamics.

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"The impact of the sanctions goes far beyond the limits of the countries that are targeted, we can see the situation in Europe as the prices of gas, minerals, metals, coal and even bread continue to rise," Barkindo said.

At the same time, the OPEC Secretary General urged the powers to engage in a dialogue in order to stabilize the world in view of the conflict in Ukraine, "I take this opportunity to call on the powers of the world not to give up, we must find a solution to these conflicts, peaceful dialogue is the only way out", he said.

Referring to the sanctions that Venezuela is also suffering, Barkindo detailed that the organization has taken a position of rejection, since these measures impact the development of the South American country, "I have said it on several occasions, these sanctions on Venezuela (founding member of OPEC and one with the largest oil reserves in the world) are against the entire world community", he added.

In spite of the illegal sanctions against Caracas by the United States (U.S.), the OPEC Secretary General pondered the hardworking and united character of the population that is recovering refineries, "I have no reason to doubt the work of Asdrubal Chavez at the head of PDVSA and its personnel, they have made a wonderful transformation that is unprecedented in the oil world", he highlighted.

"The sanctions have contracted the capacity of the Venezuelan industry to fulfill its role of being an oil supplier in the world market. We call on them to find a solution to this serious problem," Barkindo explained.

Venezuela's historic role in OPEC 

Alluding to Venezuela's historical leadership, Barkindo recalled when OPEC went into crisis in 2000 and Commander Hugo Chavez rescued it through his geopolitical vision, "the commander said that the organization should be protected, because it works for the hydrocarbon workers and the consumers of the oil market (...) Commander Hugo Chavez visited all OPEC countries and convinced the leaders that they had a sacred duty to survive OPEC," he added.

"In 2015-2016, we entered stormy waters, supply was far above demand and crude inventories in the world had reached unprecedented levels. We had no spaces to store oil in the world and prices fell, less than ten dollars a barrel, the media said it was the end of OPEC, but another leader and a patriot arrived, President Nicolas Maduro," Barkindo expressed.

The OPEC Secretary General explained that President Maduro invited non-oil producing countries to the organization, in what was called the Declaration of Cooperation, contributing to reduce the fall in crude oil prices in the world.

"When Venezuela was under siege by unjust and extreme sanctions, its oil industry suffered an impact, its production and exports contracted drastically, some facilities were completely abandoned. 

Pondering the recovery process of the oil industry, Barkindo acknowledged the work of the PDVSA's labor force, "now it is on the way to the return of 2 million barrels per day, there are no shortages and they are not importing a single barrel of refined products. You provided the leadership together with Tareck El Aissami and President Nicolás Maduro", he pointed out.

Conflict in Ukraine

Barkindo pointed out that sanctions against Russia may endanger the supply of oil products to countries in Europe and the world: "Russia is among the three largest exporters in the world. Moscow exports an average of 7.5 to 7.8 million crude oil daily, the world does not have any additional capacity to replace these exports," he said.

"We adhere to two basic principles that were agreed in Caracas in 1961: 1. it is an organization that is not political; 2. oil should never be politicized. We have had the incident that two of our founders were fighting a war for eight years and another of the founders invaded a member country, and throughout these years we have adhered to these two points," Barkindo explained regarding OPEC's position on the conflict in Ukraine.

He also highlighted the growth of the world economy which went from 9.7 to 9.8 percent, as well as the growth in oil demand which was 9.7 million barrels per day, "that is why we agreed on the release of 400,000 barrels per day", Barkindo indicated.

OPEP challenges and U.S. threats.

"We have always tried to dialogue with the U.S., the existence of OPEC is in the interest of all oil producers, including the Americans. Any hindrance to the organization's ability to maintain stability on a sustainable basis would work against the benefits of the global economy," Bakindo said.

The Secretary General reiterated that the organization will continue to fulfill its objectives of maintaining the stability of the world oil market. "We will continue to face headwinds, we have adapted to the uncertainties, we are working as an organization of united countries thanks to Nicolás Maduro, despite the current situation with COVID-19 and the crisis in Europe, we continue the work between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, it is a marriage and we are not going to divorce", he added.