The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is not the enemy of the United States, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters.

“We are complementing each other, we are not enemies here,” he told an industry news conference in Abu Dhabi, addressing the relationship between OPEC and major consuming countries, like the United States.

OPEC and other leading global oil producers led by Russia agreed in December to cut their combined oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day in order to balance the oil market starting from January.

The decision came despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to oil exporters to refrain from cutting production, saying it would trigger higher oil prices worldwide.