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The eight partner countries in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries+ (OPEC+) alliance have expressed concerns over the high cost of repairing critical energy assets that have been destroyed by Iran in the ongoing Middle East crisis.
Since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, Iran has launched reprisal and retaliatory attacks against its neighbours in the Middle East who are US allies.
Iranian forces have struck energy infrastructure in the Middle East as part of the ongoing conflict. Energy facilities in several Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain, have come under attack. These strikes have damaged the petrochemical and oil infrastructure of these countries.
In a joint statement after an online meeting.OPEC+ warned that repairing the damaged energy infrastructure would be costly and take a long time to return to its pre-war condition.
“Restoring damaged energy assets to full capacity is both costly and takes a long time, thereby affecting overall supply availability,” OPEC+ countries warned.
The OPEC+ countries, comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, emphasised the importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of global oil trade passes, has become volatile since the United States/Israel-Iran war began. This has affected energy supplies worldwide. Some countries are reporting shortages and have been forced to make tough decisions to cope with the energy crisis.
Since many Gulf countries cannot transport oil through the Strait of Hormuz, they have had to reduce their oil production quotas. In March, the International Energy Agency revealed that countries in the Gulf region have reduced their daily oil production by at least 10 million barrels, or nearly 10 per cent of global demand.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged countries facing shortages to source oil from the United States.
