Ironically, the shortage of oil does not necessarily mean that its production will be increased. In reality, the world's leading oil producers are reluctant to increase their output volumes. Thus, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been so far ignoring the plea from European countries to ramp up production. French President Emmanuel Macron doubts that these two key OPEC members will add more volumes to the market in order to cap global oil prices. Macron shared his worries with Joe Biden after a phone talk with UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE leader said that the country was already pumping as much oil as it could, complying with the current OPEC+ limits. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is ready to add only about 150,000 barrels per day which is unlikely to improve the situation. To expand its production capacity, the Kingdom will need around 6 months. Meanwhile, the US continues to call on the largest oil exporters to pump more oil as this step will help restore the balance in the energy market.
