The Biden administration and its supporters have reacted angrily to OPEC+’s decision to cut oil production, seeing it as a rejection of the US president’s efforts to improve relations with Saudi Arabia.
The White House made it clear that it viewed the oil production cartel’s decision, most notably the inclusion of Russia, to cut production by 2 million barrels a day as a geopolitical move and an affront to Biden. which seeks to cut Russian income and keep the price of gasoline down before the congressional elections in November.
He angered his supporters by visiting Jeddah in July, where he was photographed giving Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a fist bump, hoping to boost output and lower oil prices, despite the findings of the US intelligence that the kingdom’s de facto ruler was behind the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said: “It is clear that OPEC+ is aligning itself with Russia with today’s announcement.”
A statement from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said the president was “disappointed by the short-sighted decision … as the global economy deals with the negative impact continuation of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”.
“I think it’s a mistake on their part. And I think it’s time for a wholesale reassessment of the US alliance with Saudi Arabia,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told CNBC.
Tom Malinowski, a Democratic congressman from New Jersey, introduced legislation that would withdraw US troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Our message to MBS should be: ‘If you want to side with Putin, ask Putin to stand up for you. And good luck with that,” Malinowski said on Twitter.
Khalid Aljabri, whose father, Saad, is a senior Saudi intelligence official in exile, argued that whatever the impact, part of the intent behind Riyadh’s involvement in the decision to ‘OPEC+ was about US policy.
“Previous monarchs were able to optimize between maximizing Saudi oil revenue while aligning production policy with the interests of their Western security guarantors, primarily the US,” Aljabri said.
“[Prince Mohammed] it’s different Unlike his predecessors, he is an astute observer of US domestic politics and fully understands that high gas prices and inflation can swing the outcome of an election away from a sitting president and his party”.
He described the move “as an assault on democracy and election interference while allowing Putin to perpetuate his assault on Ukraine.”
Despite the anger in Washington, experts on Saudi Arabia and the oil market questioned the impact the decision would have on an already strained bilateral relationship.
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“I don’t think the Saudis think there’s much the US administration can do to register their displeasure in a meaningful way, and I don’t think the United States expects the Saudis to go against the discussions of the ‘OPEC for its interests,’ he said. Kirsten Fontenrose, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council and former senior Gulf director at the National Security Council. “So I think the Saudis know the US is not going to be happy about this, but they don’t really care.”
As part of his proposals in Riyadh over the summer, Biden had approved major arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO allies that have provided weapons to Kyiv and hope to replenish their arsenals have moved forward in the queue according to the rules of the alliance. . So, Biden’s arms sales promise has not been fulfilled.
Ed Hirs, an energy expert at the University of Houston’s economics department, also said the West failed to provide the vaccines Saudi Arabia sought at the height of the pandemic, and the country suffered a high death rate. .
“If you take a step back, the U.S. doesn’t have much to offer right now, and the Saudis don’t see any reason to offer any help,” Hirs said.
The production cut may not have a big impact on prices. Despite beating forecasts earlier in the week for cuts of 1 to 1.5 million barrels, several OPEC producers are already producing below their quotas, so the actual cut could be closer to 900,000 barrels.
“OPEC nations do not want to be in a position to provide too many barrels to a global economy that is weakening them,” Hirs added. “It is not a break with the West because relations were already broken. We didn’t help them much in very difficult times.”