Oil expert Hamza Al-Jawahiri bet on Saturday on US President Donald Trump’s loss regarding reducing global oil prices, noting that inflating the numbers in the Iraqi budget represents a means of stealing public money .
Al-Jawahiri said, in an interview with Shafaq News Agency, “Trump will fail in his attempt to reduce oil prices, as the United States aims through this to achieve major political changes in the world, such as stopping the war in Ukraine as it stopped the war in Gaza and Lebanon, and changing the regime in Syria.”
He added, “With oil prices remaining low, the rich industrial countries will witness a major industrial revolution and a significant increase in economic growth rates, which will lead to a strong demand for oil within a short period, which may not exceed months, and the price of oil will rise again to more than $80 per barrel.”
The oil expert pointed out that “the United States may lose this bet, especially within the framework of Trump’s program to develop, increase production, and pressure Saudi Arabia.”
(Mnt Goat: I do not believe Trump will lose this battle energy. I think this talk in this article is nonsense. His plan has been planned out well in advance and lessons learned from his first term and from the senseless Biden administration’s energy policy will have a huge impact in making it successful)
Regarding the Iraqi budget, Al-Jawahiri explained that “Iraq does not need a huge budget as it is now, as the inflation of the numbers is imaginary and aims to steal public money,” adding that “even in 2014, during the Iraq war against ISIS and the accompanying drop in oil prices to $40 per barrel, this did not affect the payment of salaries and there was no need for internal or external borrowing,” he said .
Al-Jawahiri continued, saying, “The budget does not need this large amount of money, and Iraq can achieve financial stability by canceling the paragraph on internal and external borrowing to cover the deficit,” indicating that “not resorting to borrowing will protect the country from theft, and will enable Iraq to spend within its oil revenues even if oil prices decline.”
(Mnt Goat: I could not agree with Al-Jawahiri more on his statements in this last paragraph. Iraq is being goated into borrowing money and should stay out of this racket. They can reduce the budget and live on what revenues they have. If anything else, Iraq desperately needs to establish that sovereign fund(s) they keep talking about and just do it.)
Trump has previously put great pressure on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) through successive tweets and direct contacts with the Saudi monarch, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, with the aim of increasing oil production and reducing its prices, which had risen sharply .
Trump had declared a national energy emergency as part of a plan to maximize US oil and gas production, sparking widespread controversy over its implications for the global economy and energy .
