According to the OECD chief, increasing supply is the finest way to stabilize oil prices

July 18, 2022: -The good way to stabilize oil prices is to increase supply, and alternatives to Russian oil are available worldwide, Mathias Corman said, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

On Friday, from the Group of 20 financial leaders assembling in Bali, Indonesia, Cormann said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put “a heavy load on the world.”

“It’s leading to low growth, higher inflation, higher energy prices, higher food prices, food security challenges, so the world would be better off if Vladimir Putin stopped this war.”

On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that a cap on Russian oil prices would be crucial to obtaining down inflation. U.S. consumer inflation in June went to a 40-year high of 9.1%, according to data released this week.

“A price cap on Russian oil is one of our powerful tools to address the pain Americans and families in the world are feeling at the gas pump and the grocery store right now,” she said.

In response, Cormann said that the G-20 foreign ministers would be “having discussions” regarding maintaining a price ceiling.

“Any measure to improve supply will bring down the price of oil, and we will have the desired effect,” said the former finance minister for Australia. 

“My message is, there are options available to the world in the context of an open global market economy through increased production from other sources, we can create up a few of that difference, and we can help assure that the price stabilizes at a more appropriate level.”

While Russia’s war of aggression has remembered massive pressure on the world, he said, growing oil prices are just “one manifestation” of the “cost burden.”

“It’s essential that the rest of the world sticks together and works together to help soften a few of that impact,” Cormann counted.