OPEC+ decision on cutting oil production indicates widening rift between Joe Biden and Saudi Royals

• Biden seeks to keep U.S. gas prices from soaring before midterm elections.
• The Saudis stated that if the United States wanted more oil on the market, it should increase its oil production.
• Saudi-led fears over U.S. influence caused OPEC+ to cease using IEA statistics in March. Oil prices fell after Vice President Joe Biden sold oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The OPEC+ organization’s decision this week to cut oil production despite U.S. objections has further strained already sour relations between President Joe Biden’s White House and Saudi Arabia’s royal family, historically one of Washington’s staunchest Middle East friends.

According to these reports, the White House vigorously opposed the OPEC output decrease. Biden seeks to keep U.S. gas prices from soaring before midterm elections when his party is fighting for control of Congress. Washington wishes to restrict Russia’s oil revenues during the Ukraine conflict.

The U.S. administration spent weeks lobbying for OPEC+. Senior U.S. energy, foreign policy, and economic officials lobbied foreign counterparts to vote against an output decrease, two individuals said.

Biden’s top energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, flew to Saudi Arabia last month to address energy concerns, including the OPEC+ decision.

They were unsuccessful in preventing a reduction in output, just as Biden was after his July visit.

US officials “tried to position it as ‘us versus Russia,'” according to a person briefed on the negotiations, urging Saudi leaders to make a decision.

According to the source, this argument failed, and the Saudis stated that if the United States wanted more oil on the market, it should increase its oil production.

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States is both the leading oil producer and user in the world.

The Saudi government’s media office CIC did not answer the media over email.

“We are concerned first and foremost with the interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and then the interests of the countries that trusted us and are members of OPEC and the OPEC + alliance,” Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz told Saudi TV Wednesday.

OPEC weighs its interests with “those of the world because we have an interest in supporting the growth of the global economy and providing energy supplies in the best way,” he said.

Washington’s handling of the Iran nuclear deal and withdrawal of assistance for a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have outraged Saudi authorities, as have steps against Russia after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg TV following the OPEC cut that the United States’ insistence on a price ceiling on Russian oil is producing confusion, citing the “lack of details and the lack of clarity” regarding how it will be implemented.

A source briefed by Saudi officials described it as “a non-market price-control mechanism, that could be used by a cartel of consumers against producers.”

Oil prices fell in March after Biden sold 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Saudi-led fears over U.S. influence caused OPEC+ to cease using IEA statistics in March.

Biden referred to the Saudi move as a “disappointment” on Thursday, saying that the United States may take further action in the oil market.

Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, “Look it’s clear that OPEC Plus is aligning with Russia.” She declined to comment on how the reduction in production would impact U.S.-Saudi ties. Democrats led by Biden called for the evacuation of U.S. soldiers from Saudi Arabia and the return of weaponry.

“I thought the whole point of selling arms to the Gulf States despite their human rights abuses, nonsensical Yemen War, working against US interests in Libya, Sudan, etc, was that when an international crisis came, the Gulf could choose America over Russia/China,” Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, said on Twitter.

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