The White House on Wednesday criticized a decision by OPEC+ to cut oil production, with US President Joe Biden saying he was “disappointed” and that his administration would look to reduce the organization’s control over energy prices.
“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,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said in a statement.
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The US officials said the decision would negatively impact lower- and middle-income countries the most.
OPEC+ ministers met in person for the first time in months, agreeing to cut oil output by 2 million barrels per day despite reports that the Biden administration had been lobbying Gulf states against the move.
Wednesday’s statement from the White House said the US would continue pumping oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and that Biden has directed his energy secretary to look at ways to increase domestic production in the “immediate term.”
Meanwhile, the White House said the Biden administration would open talks with Congress “on additional tools and authorities to reduce OPEC’s control over energy prices.” It is unclear what those measures could be.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that the move to cut oil output was a “mistake” and accused OPEC+ of “aligning with Russia.”
But Saudi Arabia rebuffed criticism it was colluding with Russia, which is included in the OPEC+ group, to drive prices higher and said the West was often driven by “wealth arrogance” when criticizing the group.
Earlier in the day, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US needed to become less dependent on OPEC+ and foreign oil producers.
Read more: Oil prices fall more than 2 pct on global demand fears and strong dollar
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