OPEC says IEA should be ‘very careful’ about discouraging oil investments
OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said finger-pointing and misrepresenting the actions of OPEC and OPEC+ was “counterproductive.”
Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images
Oil producer group OPEC on Thursday lashed out at the International Energy Agency, saying the world’s leading energy authority should be “very careful” about undermining industry investments.
OPEC Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais said finger-pointing and misrepresenting the actions of OPEC and OPEC+ was “counterproductive.” He added that the influential group of 23 oil-exporting exporting nations was not targeting oil prices, but instead focusing on market fundamentals.
OPEC said that its comments came in response to fresh criticism from the IEA, without providing further details.
In a Bloomberg TV interview on Wednesday, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol used similar language in warning OPEC about boosting oil prices.
Birol said that the energy alliance, led by Saudi Arabia, should be “very careful” with its production policy, warning that the group’s short-term and medium-term interests appeared to be contradictory. He added that higher crude prices and upward inflationary pressures would result in a weaker global economy, with low-income nations likely to be disproportionately affected.
“The IEA knows very well that there are a confluence of factors that impact markets. The knock-on effects of COVID-19, monetary policies, stock movements, algorithm trading, commodity trading advisors and SPR releases (coordinated or uncoordinated), geopolitics, to name a few,” Al-Ghais said.
Blaming oil for higher inflation was “erroneous and technically incorrect as there are many other factors causing inflation,” he added.
Surprise output cuts
Earlier this month, the Paris-based energy agency said surprise oil output cuts from OPEC+ risked exacerbating a projected supply deficit and could scupper an economic recovery.
Several OPEC+ members announced on April 2 that they were set to tighten global production by an additional 1.16 million barrels per day until the end of the year.
The decision, which the White House criticized, was said to have been made as part of an independent initiative unlinked to broader OPEC+ policy.
The cuts add to Russia’s existing plans to trim 500,000 barrels per day of its production from March until at least the end of the year. It means the combined voluntary cuts of OPEC+ members will be in excess of 1.6 million barrels per day.
“Other energy markets have been far more volatile,” al-Ghais said, “with oil markets less so, mainly due to the stabilizing role of OPEC and the OPEC+ group.”
“If anything will lead to future volatility” he added, “it is the IEA’s repeated calls to stop investing in oil, knowing that all data-driven outlooks envisage the need for more of this precious commodity to fuel global economic growth and prosperity in the decades to come, especially in the developing world.”
Fraught relationship
The relationship between OPEC and the IEA has been increasingly fraught in recent years, with Birol repeatedly criticizing the pace at which the producers’ alliance increased its output rates, as it unwound the drastic production cuts it implemented in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The IEA’s condemnations aligned with views held by some consumer nations — most vocally the U.S. — that stressed the strain of high energy prices on consumer households.
The IEA had served as one of the so-called secondary sources whose production data the OPEC+ group used to benchmark the internal compliance rate of its members with their respective output obligations. OPEC removed the IEA as a secondary source in March last year, with OPEC+ delegates at the time citing concerns over the accuracy of IEA production estimates.
In a February interview with Energy Aspects, Saudi Arabia oil minister and OPEC+ chair, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, faulted the IEA’s initial predictions of a 3 million barrels per day loss of Russian crude and oil products for a U.S. decision to release volumes from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“Fairly and squarely, the IEA was responsible for it. Because of the, you know, screaming and scaring that they have done, on how much Russia will lose in terms of its production,” he said.
OPEC and the IEA have also diverged in their approach to global decarbonization. The IEA has repeatedly said the pathway to net-zero emissions requires massive declines in the use of oil, gas and coal and warned in a landmark report in 2021 that there is no place for new fossil fuel projects if the world is to stave off the worst of what the climate crisis has in store. The IEA declined to respond to the OPEC secretary’s comments on Thursday.
The burning of fossil fuels is the chief driver of the climate emergency.
By contrast, OPEC+ ministers and officials have repeatedly championed a strategy of dual investment in hydrocarbon and renewable projects, to avoid energy shortages while green resources are insufficient to fully meet consumer demand worldwide.
— CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache contributed to this report.
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Tesla has partnered with its recent foe, Disney, to promote its latest movie, Tron: Ares, with an in-car update that is not making everyone happy.
Many owners view it as Tesla making in-car advertisements and/or working on something that distracts them from needed software updates.
Today, Tesla announced and began pushing an update to its car owners, which essentially amounts to an advertisement for Disney’s new movie, Tron: Ares.
The update enables owners to turn their in-car visualization into a Tron bike.
The update is surprising on several levels, as it essentially serves as an advertisement for a Disney movie.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is notoriously not a fan of Disney and has even removed Disney+ from the Tesla Theater.
However, more importantly, Tesla is pushing advertisements to its vehicle owners inside their cars, and people are not happy.
Examining the first few dozen comments below the announcement, the reaction is mainly negative.
Tesla owner Matt Chinander wrote:
I’m sorry but this is an absolutely worthless update. Also, when did Tesla start partnering with woke companies like Disney? Didn’t Elon just go a rampage LAST WEEK against woke?
Tesla owners are also upset that the automaker spent time and resources developing this software update rather than working on more significant updates, such as delivering on its long-promised full self-driving capabilities, especially on older HW3 cars, which have been left untouched for more than a year.
Electrek’s Take
Yes, this is not a good look. This is definitely a promotional effort for the movie. The question is: Is Tesla getting paid for this?
Is it really pushing advertising inside its vehicles?
Even if it is a cross-promotional effort, it doesn’t look great, and it’s a clear step toward automakers pushing ads inside connected vehicles.
I am not a fan all around. The idea of Tesla pushing ads in-car is not ideal, and this partnership itself is a questionable move.
I loved the original Tron movie. Legacy wasn’t great, but the soundtrack was outstanding. That said, I don’t have high hopes for this new one based on the trailer, which looked cheesy. It currently holds a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The most disappointing aspect is that Tesla would spend any effort on this rather than on much-needed updates to its user interface and other software features within its vehicles.
Prediction: within the next year, Tesla will start doing this more often and offer an “ad-free experience” with its “premium connectivity subscription.”
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Ford is no longer planning to offer a program that would extend the $7,500 EV tax credit for at least another few months. The company said it will continue offering competitive lease payments.
Ford ends $7,500 EV tax credit program for leases
Just a day after GM suddenly ended plans for a program to extend the $7,500 EV tax credit for leases, Ford announced it will also end the offer.
“Ford will not claim the EV tax credit,” a company spokesperson confirmed with Reuters on Thursday. However, don’t expect all the savings to disappear. At least, not yet. The spokesperson added Ford will still offer the “competitive lease payments we have in the market today.”
The move comes after crosstown rival GM announced a similar decision on Wednesday. Last week, Reuters reported that Ford and GM were planning to launch programs to extend the $7,500 tax credit for EV leases.
The program involved purchasing EVs from dealer inventories through their financing divisions, enabling them to become eligible for the credit.
Ford and GM would then use the funds to continue offering the $7,500 credit for those leasing an EV. The programs were expected to run at least a few months after the September 30 deadline.
The company spokesperson said Ford Credit is still offering 0% APR financing for 72 months, along with other incentives, for electric vehicle buyers.
A source close to the matter told Reuters that GM scrapped the program after Republican Senator Bernie Moreno called to close a loophole that enabled the credit to be passed on through leasing.
“GM worked on an extended offer for the benefit of our customers and dealers,” a company spokesperson said, adding, “After further consideration, we have decided not to claim the tax credit.” The company will provide about $6,000 of its own cash instead to continue supporting EV leases. GM will also continue to fund the incentive lease terms until the end of October.
Several automakers are promising to keep the savings going with incentives of their own, including Hyundai, BMW, and Stellantis.
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