The White House on Wednesday (local time) expressed disappointment over the announcement of a cut in oil production quotas by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.
Criticizing the move by OPEC+ on cuts, the Biden administration said that it was a “short-sighted decision”. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre accused OPEC+ of “aligning with Russia”.
The White House said in a statement from national security adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese that “the president is disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+ to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Earlier in the day, members of OPEC+ said that they would cut November production quotas by two million barrels per day, citing the “uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks.”
“We (OPEC+) are here to stay as a moderating force, to bring about stability,” Saudi Arabian energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said during a news conference.
An OPEC+ memo outlining cuts shows that Saudi Arabia and Russia will make the biggest individual reductions of the 19 countries doing so, lowering output by 526,000 monthly barrels a piece.
The White House warned that OPEC’s move would “have the most negative impact on lower-and middle-income countries that are already reeling from elevated energy prices.”
The White House also said that President Biden has directed the Department of Energy to release another 10 million oil barrels from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve next month, signalling the administration’s effort to keep gas prices low for another month until the crucial midterms.