National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top economic advisor Brian Deese said in a statement that Biden was "disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+". "It's clear that OPEC+ is aligning with Russia with today's announcement," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said aboard Air Force One.
The timing is also bad for Biden's political agenda as it comes ahead of US midterm elections next month. But the decision drew a swift rebuke from US President Joe Biden, who had made a controversial trip to Saudi Arabia in July under pressure as Americans faced rising prices at fuel stations. Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, defended the move, saying the cartel's priority was "to maintain a sustainable oil market", at a press conference following OPEC+'s first in-person meeting since March 2020.
It is the biggest cut since the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020, raising fears that it will turbocharge oil prices at a time when countries are already facing soaring energy-fuelled inflation. The 13-nation OPEC cartel headed by Riyadh and its 10 allies led by Moscow agreed to reduce output by two million barrels per day from November at a meeting in Vienna, the group said in a statement. Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top oil producers agreed on a major cut in production on Wednesday to boost crude prices - a move denounced by the United States as a concession to Moscow that will further hurt the global economy.
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