LONDON: Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih has dismissed suggestions that OPEC and its partner producers such as Russia will cut output at the next meeting as “premature.”
The oil producers are scheduled to meet in Vienna on Dec. 6 to discuss production policy for the next year.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, the minister said that talks between producers were needed to “hear about their views about supply, demand and projections of their own country’s production,” before deciding on the best course of action for the market.
“We just need to figure out what needs to be done and by how much,” he said while attending UN climate talks in Poland.
His comments follow earlier remarks made in Abu Dhabi last month when he said that Opec+ should think about cutting production by 1 million barrels a day.
On Tuesday, he clarified these comments, telling Bloomberg that while projections said that there would be an oversupply of 1 million barrels, the market would have to wait until the Vienna meeting to be certain about that figure.
Any reduction in output relied on all of OPEC and its partners contributing to a cut, Al-Falih said. Russia was “in principle” in favor of a reduction in output, he said.
There has been some global resistance to cuts in OPEC oil production, with US President Donald Trump pushing Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to keep fuel prices low for Americans.
Al-Falih told Bloomberg that the riots in France over hikes in the cost of diesel was a result of “governments unreasonably taxing energy,” rather than the underlying price of crude oil.
“We want a thriving global economy and that requires affordable energy,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia released a lot of oil in the last six months … and the reason we did that is to make sure that energy supplies are plentiful and affordable. Yet consumer countries go and impose tax after tax after tax and take up the slack we are releasing and that is not fair,” he said.
Saudi Arabia currently produces between 11 million and 11.2 million barrels of oil a day, the Saudi minister said.
The price of oil has tumbled from four-year highs of more than $86 a barrel in early October to trade at about $63 per barrel on Tuesday.
On Monday, Qatar — which is currently being boycotted by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states for alleged links to terrorism — said it would leave OPEC next year to focus on gas production instead. The Qataris have said they will attend the December OPEC meeting.
‘Premature’ to confirm OPEC+ cuts: Saudi minister
‘Premature’ to confirm OPEC+ cuts: Saudi minister
- The oil producers are scheduled to meet in Vienna on Dec. 6 to discuss production policy for the next year
- Donald Trump has been pushing Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to keep fuel prices low for Americans
PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition
JEDDAH: Humain, an artificial intelligence company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI shortly before the startup was acquired by SpaceX.
As part of xAI’s Series E round, Humain acquired a significant minority stake in the company, which was subsequently converted into shares of SpaceX, according to a press release.
The transaction reflects PIF’s broader push to position Saudi Arabia as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, as part of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.
Through Humain, the fund is seeking to combine capital deployment with infrastructure buildout, partnerships with leading technology firms, and domestic capacity development to reduce reliance on oil revenues and expand into advanced industries.
The $3 billion commitment offers potential for long-term capital gains while reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic, scaled investor in transformative technologies.
CEO Tareq Amin said: “This investment reflects Humain’s conviction in transformational AI and our ability to deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge, xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by its acquisition by SpaceX, one of the largest technology mergers on record, represents the kind of high-impact platform we seek to support with significant capital.”
The deal builds on a large-scale collaboration announced in November at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI committed to developing over 500 megawatts of next-generation AI data center and computing infrastructure, alongside deploying xAI’s “Grok” models in the Kingdom.
In a post on his X handle, Amin said: “I’m proud to share that Humain has invested $3 billion into xAI’s Series E round, just prior to its historic acquisition by SpaceX. Through this transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI.”
He added: “The investment builds on our previously announced 500MW AI infrastructure partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Humain’s role as both a strategic development partner and a scaled global investor in frontier AI.”
He noted that xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by SpaceX’s acquisition, exemplifies the high-impact platforms Humain aims to support through strategic investments.
Earlier in February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI, reflecting Elon Musk’s strategy to integrate AI with space exploration.
The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion, aims to build a vertically integrated innovation ecosystem spanning AI, space launch technology, and satellite internet, as well as direct-to-device communications and real-time information platforms, according to Bloomberg.
Humain, founded in August, consolidates Saudi Arabia’s AI initiatives under a single entity. From the outset, its vision has extended beyond domestic markets, participating across the global AI value chain from infrastructure to applications.
The company represents a strategic initiative by PIF to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and reduce oil dependence by investing in knowledge-based and advanced technologies.
