White House ‘not going to get ahead’ OPEC+ cut reports, defends Biden on gas prices
Katherine Doyle
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The White House declined to respond to reports that OPEC+ is again preparing to cut oil production quotas, saying President Joe Biden remains focused on other actions to bring down gas prices at home.
A decision by the cartel to slash output during its last meeting fueled weeks of tense rhetoric between the United States and Saudi Arabia, with Biden vowing “consequences” against the kingdom.
Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday she was “not going to get ahead of what potential announcement OPEC+ is going to make.”
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Jean-Pierre said Biden “has done the work” in recent months to bring down gas prices at the pump, including through releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“He has said many times … focusing on inflation is a priority, lowering costs for American people is a priority,” Jean-Pierre said. “We have seen prices go down because of this.”
Oil prices face renewed volatility ahead of OPEC+’s Dec. 4 meeting with conflicting accounts of how the cartel intends to respond.
Saudi Arabia denied last week that it would increase oil output after the Biden administration moved to shield the kingdom’s crown prince from prosecution in a U.S. lawsuit.
The group will convene in Vienna, Austria, one day before Western allies are expected to impose expanded sanctions on energy exports from Russia, an OPEC+ member.
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Biden visited Saudi Arabia in July to ease tensions with the kingdom as energy prices soared following a crackdown on Russian fuel exports amid its war in Ukraine.
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