White House Confirms Biden Admin Asked Saudis to Postpone Oil Cuts Until 1 Month After Midterms

White House Confirms Biden Admin Asked Saudis to Postpone Oil Cuts Until 1 Month After Midterms
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden to Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022. Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP
Jack Phillips
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The Biden administration confirmed on Oct. 13 that it asked Saudi Arabia to delay an OPEC+ vote to cut oil production until its next meeting, which comes after the 2022 midterm elections.

“We presented Saudi Arabia with analysis to show that there was no market basis to cut production targets, and that they could easily wait for the next OPEC meeting to see how things developed,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

He didn’t directly say that the White House had sought to have Saudi Arabia, a key member of OPEC, delay the vote until after the midterms. But according to OPEC’s website, the organization’s next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 4, about a month after the midterm elections in which analysts favor Republicans to take back at least the House.

Other OPEC countries also allegedly “communicated to us privately that they also disagreed with the Saudi decision, but felt coerced to support Saudi’s direction” to slash oil production during last week’s meeting, according to Kirby. He didn’t provide any examples but said the United States would reevaluate its relationship with the Saudi government.

“As the President has said, we are reevaluating our relationship with Saudi Arabia in light of these actions, and will continue to look for signs about where they stand in combatting Russian aggression,” he said.

Kirby’s comment was issued in response to an Oct. 12 statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry refuting allegations that the kingdom took sides with Russia against the United States.

“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. This decision was taken unanimously by all member states of the OPEC+ group,” the ministry said in a statement.

‘Consequences’

During an interview this week with CNN, U.S. President Joe Biden said there would be undisclosed consequences for the oil production cut.

“When the House and Senate get back, they’re going to have to—there’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done, with Russia,” Biden told CNN. “I’m not going to get into what I’d consider and what I have in mind. But there will be ... there will be consequences.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) greets U.S. President Joe Biden with a fist bump after his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022. (Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) greets U.S. President Joe Biden with a fist bump after his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022. Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP

Since Biden took office in January 2021, gas prices steadily increased before surging to record highs in June, when AAA data showed the average price reached higher than $5 per gallon nationwide.

While prices have dropped since then, they’ve again progressively increased, according to AAA, with the current price reaching $3.91 on Oct. 13. The average price one month ago was $3.70.

Republicans say that Biden’s policies targeting domestic oil production have, in part, triggered the high gas prices and have contributed to decades-high inflation. Data released on Oct. 13 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that a key inflation metric, the Consumer Price Index, rose 8.2 percent year-over-year for September.

In the days after taking office last year, Biden signed executive orders suspending some federal drilling leases, ending the construction of the Canada-to-U.S. Keystone pipeline, and ending some federal subsidies while he and some Democrats have promoted electric vehicles.

Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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