Trump blasts OPEC for ‘artificially very high prices’ on oil

President Trump on Friday knocked OPEC in a morning tweet, accusing the alliance of oil-producing countries of artificially raising prices on oil at a time when the resource is plentiful.

Trump warned that the U.S. “will not” accept artificial price controls from OPEC, which represents 14 of the world’s leading oil producers.

{mosads}

“Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!” Trump tweeted.

Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih responded directly to Trump’s tweet in a statement to CNBC, telling the network that “markets should determine price.”

CNBC also reports that Saudi Arabia hopes to see oil prices rise to nearly $100 a barrel in order to support the initial public offering of its state oil company, Saudi Aramco.

Prices for Texas-based WTI crude oil reached a three-year record high at $69 a barrel this week, while the international benchmark of Brent crude oil sat at $73 on Friday after hitting a four-year high this week.

As president, Trump controls the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a supply of U.S. oil that can be released by the federal government to offset high oil prices on a by-need basis.

The reserve was last tapped in 2011, during the Libyan Civil War, when unrest in the region led to a decrease in oil production.