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was sending a warning to when it threatened to lead oil-producing countries in OPEC+ into cutting production to calm volatile markets earlier this week, experts told UK media.

After the price of Brent Crude oil dropped below $100 a barrel on Monday, the Gulf kingdom’s energy minister said oil producers could respond to violate oil prices "including [by] cutting production at any time and in different forms".Ìý

This was a message that not only served to revitalise prices, which rose to $102 by Thursday. But it was also intended as a warning to the US as a withÌýIran nears completion, potentially flooding oil markets over the winter, according to former White House advisers and senior oil analysts.Ìý

"People familiar with the kingdom’s thinking say Riyadh’s sudden intervention, which has boosted oil prices back above $100 a barrel, was motivated in part by a desire to make clear to the US the consequences of allowing Iranian oil back into global markets,"Ìýreported the Financial Times.ÌýÌý

Saudi Arabia is a leading member of OPEC+ , the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies,Ìýalongside Russia.Ìý

The Kingdom has repeatedly ignored calls from Biden to increase production. imports have driven up energy prices in the West, triggering a cost of living crisis which is set to worsen over the coming months.ÌýÌý

Oil pricesÌýfell briefly at the start of this month - butÌýSaudi Arabia’s comments, which were supported by OPECÌýPresident Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua and several oil-producing states including Iraq and Kuwait,Ìýprompted a price increase.Ìý

The Saudi intervention was intended to "defend a floor price"Ìýfor oil, Roger Diwan, vice-president at IHS Markit Experts, toldÌýThe Financial Times.Ìý

There’s also the prospect of a "potential return of Iranian barrels [which are] a destabilising element for the Saudi-Russian duopoly in Opec+,"Ìýhe added.Ìý

Former White House adviser Bob McNally told the British newspaperÌýthat Abdulaziz's intervention was intended to inject stability into "a crude futures market going haywire".Ìý

A to limit Tehran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting sanctions is inching closer to finalisation. Iran is "carefully"Ìýreviewing the US response to a European Union-drafted agreement, according to the latest reports.Ìý

Should an agreement materialise, Tehran could raise supply by hundreds of thousands of barrels a day by the end of the year, driving down global prices.Ìý

Saudi Arabia has strongly opposed returning to the deal. The kingdom and Iran areÌýlong-time regional foes, fighting for influence via a series of proxies in Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere.