Putin: Trump policies to blame for hike in oil prices

Russian President Vladimir Putin says increasing oil prices are a direct result of policies undertaken by his American counterpart Donald Trump against top producers such as Iran and Venezuela.

Speaking at the Russia Energy Week forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin said Trump was right to complain that oil prices were high but he had to “look in the mirror” to find out why.

"President Trump has said he thinks the oil price is too high. Well, probably to some extend he's right, but we are absolutely OK with it at $65 to $75 per barrel to ensure the efficient operation of oil companies and ensure investment," Putin said.

"But let's be frank, such oil prices are to some extent the result of the U.S. administration. I'm talking about sanctions against Iran, about political problems in Venezuela and just looking at what's happening in Libya," he added.

The Russian leader made the comments as a response to Trump’s criticism of Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) over a 2016 deal that curbed oil output in order to help the market recover after price slumps due to excess global supply in mid-2014.

Disappointed by the deal’s success, Trump has accused OPEC, Saudi Arabia and Russia of keeping prices high and called on them to drive them down by increasing production.

This is while analysts blame Trump's own decision to sanction the oil exports of OPEC members Iran and Venezuela as a key contributor to the issue, as buyers fear that omitting the two top oil producers will result in a shortfall in global supply.

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During his address, Putin defended the OPEC deal, saying it was aimed at balancing the market.

"If the market is not balanced, there is a situation which leads to reduced investment and finally this will create a deficit on the market and prices will leap," he said.

Alexander Mercouris, editor-in-chief at theduran.com, said Putin understood the oil market and had good reasons to be alerted by Trump’s policies.

"We have a situation where the market should be in balance with the dollar getting stronger, the price of oil should if anything be falling and the reason it is rising is because the United States is itself disrupting the energy market through its policy of sanctions directed first and foremost against Iran," he told Press TV.

PressTV-OPEC, Russia rebuff Trump’s call to raise oil output

Saudi Arabia – the biggest oil producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – and biggest oil-producer ally outside the group, Russia, have jointly rebuffed a veiled request by US President Donald Trump to implement an immediate increase in their production of crude oil.

After quitting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May, Trump pledged to squeeze Iran’s oil exports down to a trickle by early November. He has also threatened to tighten sanctions on Venezuela’s industry in order to bring down President Nikolas Maduro.

Meanwhile, the Libyan oil production has taken a major hit over the past years due to a civil war that followed Western military interventions in 2011 to topple the country’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

All of these have forced OPEC to pump up production to the limits, leaving it with little ability to compensate for Trump’s aggressive plans against some of the members.

The US president thinks countries like Saudi Arabia can replace Iran's missing supplies in the market, a possibility that analysts say is not likely to happen until the required infrastructure are put in place.

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