Donald Trump takes aim at Opec over high oil prices

Iran hits back, accusing the US President
of stoking volatility by withdrawing from the nuclear deal

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“Oil prices are too high, Opec is at it again,” the president
wrote on Twitter yesterday. “Not good!”

This isn’t the first time Trump has taken aim at the oil cartel.
In April, he said Opec’s efforts to push prices higher would “not
be accepted” by his administration.

Oil prices have risen around 60% over the last year after Opec
and some non-Opec producers, including Russia, began reducing
supplies in 2017, according to Reuters.

Analysts predict that member states will agree to increase
production when the organisation meets in Vienna at the end of the
month.

“Opec doesn’t want to see oil prices spike to $100 again,” says
Brian Kessens, portfolio manager at Tortoise, an energy investment
firm. “Opec is trying to find a sweet spot where everyone
wins.”

Global benchmark prices are currently nearing $80 a barrel, a
spike which threatens to slow America’s cruising economy and anger
voters before the midterm election, CNN Money says.

Trump’s latest comments drew a sharp response from Iran, one of
the world’s largest oil exporters.

The country’s Opec governor accused the US President of stoking
volatility by withdrawing from the nuclear deal and imposing tough
new sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

“You cannot place sanctions on two Opec founder members and
still blame Opec for oil price volatility,” Hossein Kazempour
Ardebili told Reuters. “This is business, Mr. President – we
thought you knew it.”