The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has confirmed that President Joe Biden's administration requested KSA to delay the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC +) decision to cut oil production until after the United States midterm elections. The middle eastern country also rejected the White House's criticism of the organization regarding decreasing the production supply.
On October 12, a spokesperson for the Department of State Ned Price denied reports that U.S. government officials had requested the OPEC+ to delay its decision until after the November elections.
"I certainly can't confirm that report. What I can confirm is that we conveyed a consistent message to the Saudis: energy supply needs to meet energy demand. We have made the point repeatedly that we have a multiplicity of interests with Saudi Arabia; energy is one of them," Price said during a press briefing.
Hours later, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud released a statement that said: "The Government of the Kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the U.S. administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences."
On October 5, OPEC+ decided to decrease oil output by two million barrels per day, which incensed Biden's Democratic allies, who accused the powerful consortium of oil producers' move to be politically motivated. (Related: OPEC+ set to reduce oil production – a blatant rejection of Biden's plea.)
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: "It is clear that OPEC+ is aligning with Russia with today's announcement." A press statement was also released by the White House saying the shortsighted decision by the intergovernmental organization to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
KSA's foreign minister insisted OPEC's decision was "purely" about maintaining a balance of supply and demand and limiting volatility in the oil markets.
"The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would first like to express its total rejection of these statements that are not based on facts, and which are based on portraying the OPEC+ decision out of its purely economic context," he said.
KSA blasts US for "distorting" its stand on the Ukraine war
Farhan Al Saud also accused the U.S. government of attempting to "manipulate" the facts about the kingdom's "principled position" on the Russia-Ukraine war and described the attempts as "unfortunate" but ultimately unpersuasive.
He added that KSA supports the United Nations' resolutions on the ongoing war based on the Kingdom's position on the importance for all countries to adhere to the UN Charter, principles of international law and the kingdom's rejection of any infringement on the sovereignty of countries over their territories.
"The Kingdom stresses that while it strives to preserve the strength of its relations with all friendly countries, it affirms its rejection of any dictates, actions, or efforts to distort its noble objectives to protect the global economy from oil market volatility," bin Farhan Al Saud pointed out.
According to him, the kingdom views its relationship with the U.S. to be strategic and beneficial to both.
"The Kingdom also stresses the importance of building on the solid pillars upon which the Saudi-U.S. relationship had stood over the past eight decades," he said. "These pillars include mutual respect, enhancing common interests, actively contributing to preserving regional and international peace and security, countering terrorism and extremism and achieving prosperity for the peoples of the region."
The cartel's decision to mandate oil supply cuts creates a huge impact as Biden seemed to have failed to influence KSA during the July visit to the kingdom to ask for increased oil production.
Visit FuelSupply.news to read more about the imminent oil supply shortage and price hikes.
Watch the video below where Rep. Markwayne Mullin denounces Biden as OPEC is now "running the show."
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