Today, Thursday, US President Joe Biden expressed his disappointment with the plans announced by the OPEC + countries to reduce oil production, and said that the United States was studying the alternatives available to it.
The OPEC+ group agreed to sharp production cuts on Wednesday, slashing supplies in a market already in tight supply, raising the prospect of higher gasoline prices ahead of the November US midterm elections in which Biden's Democrats will defend their majority in the United States. The House and Senate.
In response to a question about the OPEC+ decision, Biden told reporters at the White House, "We are looking at alternatives that we may have."
"There are a lot of alternatives. We haven't made up our minds yet," he said.
"But it is disappointing," he added about the OPEC+ decision.
In the first American reaction, White House spokesman John Kirby said: "We must be less dependent on the oil of the OPEC+ countries and the rest of the producers."
In a related context, Crystol Energy CEO Carol Nakhle said, in an interview with Al-Arabiya, that the decision of OPEC Plus members to reduce production by two million barrels per day is positive on oil prices.
The CEO of Crystol Energy explained that the decision to cut production will not affect the United States economically, but its impact on the popularity of President Joe Biden and his government.
And Carol Nakhle continued, the rise in oil prices is positive for producers, and the United States is the largest oil producer.
And Reuters news agency quoted 3 sources in OPEC+ that the coalition countries agreed, at their meeting today, to reduce their production by two million barrels per day, despite pressure from the United States and other consuming countries to pump more.
Two sources from OPEC+ said that the entry into force of the reduction agreed upon by the bloc will be from November, while it was decided that the next meeting of OPEC+ would be in December.
The OPEC+ production cut may lead to a recovery in oil prices, which fell to about $ 90 from 120 three months ago, due to fears of a global economic recession, raising US interest rates and a rise in the dollar.
Sources said it was still not clear whether the cuts might include additional voluntary cuts by members or whether they might include the group's current production shortfall.
OPEC production is currently 3 million barrels per day less than its target, and the inclusion of those barrels will mitigate the impact of the new cuts.
The Source
- reuters.com
- alarabiya.net
- Arab Media