Saudi Arabia Snubs Biden on Oil Production Timing
(TheRedWire.com) – The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia continues to degrade. President Joe Biden made the trip to the Middle-Eastern country over the summer to strengthen ties, but unfortunately, his strategy backfired. Two months after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised increased oil production, the kingdom announced it would back an OPEC+ plan to cut production instead, refusing a White House request to wait.
Last week, Saudi Arabia announced that OPEC+ would cut output by two million barrels a day in response to fears of a crash in the petroleum market. The Biden administration desperately tried to persuade the oil-rich country to postpone the move to see if the market would stabilize. The president went so far as to offer to buy OPEC+ oil at a guaranteed $75 per barrel to replenish the dwindling US strategic oil reserves.
Biden is facing the consequences of his war on American energy.
Don’t make us dependent on foreign countries.
Allow American workers to produce the oil that can reduce the price of gasoline.
Texas can do it.https://t.co/OYbPvtVfRt
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 13, 2022
Biden’s offer doesn’t interest the Saudis despite potentially setting a floor price for oil. Instead, US National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said the reduction clearly indicates that the kingdom intends to move away from US interests and back toward Russia. Kirby pointed out how the Saudi strategy would blunt the effect of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, according to The Guardian.
Kirby said the Saudis saw clear evidence that there was no market crash impending and that other OPEC nations communicated the desire to hold off on the cuts. The next move will be on Congress, he added.
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