CERAWEEK - Kuwait oil CEO claims Iran is "holding the world economy hostage"
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation CEO said that emergency measures taken to ease the disruption in energy?supply due to the U.S. and Israeli war 'on Iran' are "not even a smidgen" compared with normal oil and natural gas exports from the Middle East Gulf. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Iraq were forced to reduce crude oil production by millions of barrels after Iranian drone and missile attacks on infrastructure in the region as well as ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts call the disruption of global oil and natural gas supplies "the worst ever" as oil prices rise over $100 per barrel. "We are outraged at this attack," Sheikh Nawaf Sabah Al-Sabah said in a fiery address via video link to the CERAWeek conference in Houston. This is not just an attack on the Gulf but also an?attack which is holding the global economy hostage. It's an attack on our sovereignty in Kuwait, our people, and our facilities.
He said that overnight in Kuwait City, air raid sirens were sounded 5 times. He said that there was no reason to target civilian infrastructure. Kuwait, a member of OPEC that produced around 2.6 millions barrels of oil per day, had to cut its energy production after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 20% of world oil consumption.
He said that there is no substitute for exports via the Strait of Hormuz. He said that measures such as the biggest-ever release of strategic stocks, U.S. waivers on sanctions against some Russian and Iranian oil?exports and exports via pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz fell far short the volume 'of crude and fuels?that the Middle East usually exports.
He said, "These aren't even stopgaps." Stopgap measures could at least satisfy demand for a certain period of time.
He said that the closure of the Strait also affected global supply chains. The rising price of fertilizer would lead to hunger, and conflict around the globe as food prices increase.
It is not anyone's straight. He said that it is the strait of the entire world, both under international law as well as in practical reality.
He added that it would take Kuwait three to four months before the output returned to normal levels, even if today's war ended. (Reporting and writing by Stephanie Kelly in Houston, Liz Hampton and Franklin Paul; Editing and reviewing by David Gaffen and David Gaffen).
(source: Reuters)
