According to Sina Finance on January 13, Saudi Arabia's energy minister said that OPEC and its allies are still focusing on reducing oil stocks to normal levels through production cuts, and are not affected by the heightened political tension in the Middle East.

The price of oil has erased all this year's gains. After the US killed senior Iranian generals, triggering a confrontation between the US and Iran, Brent crude oil once soared to a three-month high, close to 72 US dollars per barrel. However, as the US and Iran retreated from the brink of a full-scale outbreak, while supply remained relaxed, crude oil prices fell.

Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday that OPEC and its allies are still determined to continue cutting production to absorb excess stocks.

Bin Salman said in Dammam: “Our internal OPEC+ effort is to reach a certain level of inventory,” that is, within the range of recent years, which should be around the average of the past five years and the level from 2010 to 2014.

Bin Salman said he was “very satisfied” with the execution of OPEC+ member countries' production cuts in December. He said that Iraq, which has been underperforming in implementing production cuts for a long time, did not reach its target last month, but made “reasonable” efforts.

He declined to reveal a decision OPEC+ might make in March. At that time, the current production reduction plan will end, and OPEC+ will decide whether to extend production cuts.

He said that in the Strait of Hormuz, concerns about oil transportation caused by the US-Iran conflict only continued for about 24 hours. He also added that Saudi Arabia is doing everything it can to ensure the safety of its oil production facilities.