Saudis release bombshell statement saying Biden DID try and delay oil production cut until AFTER the midterms in desperate bid to avoid gas prices spiking – as White House hits back and claims Kingdom knew OPEC deal would benefit Putin
- Saudi Arabia said US officials ‘suggested’ OPEC cut should be delayed a month
- Would have pushed decision back until after the midterms on November 8
- Kingdom refused, and OPEC slashed oil production by 2 million barrels a day
- Saudi Foreign Ministry said the decision was made purely for economic reasons
- White House hit back furiously and said Kingdom was trying to ‘distort the facts’
- Biden administration now scrambling with gas prices set to rise again
A bombshell statement from Saudi Arabia states the Biden administration reached out and pleaded with them to delay the OPEC deal to cut oil production until after the midterms.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Thursday morning that US officials ‘suggested’ postponing the decision to reduce output by two million barrels a day by a month until after November 8, when millions of Americans will cast their ballots.
The Kingdom also brushed off suggestions it sided with Russia by insisting it took a ‘principled position’ on the Ukraine war and said the OPEC decision was entirely based on economics, not politics.
The White House responded furiously hours after the statement, claiming Saudi Arabia is ‘trying to spin or reflect’ and reiterated that Biden will ‘re-evaluate’ the relationship with the longstanding allies.
The OPEC decision last week has left the Biden administration scrambling and bracing for another spike in gas prices with less than a month before the midterms.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby shot back: ‘The Saudi Foreign Ministry can try to spin or deflect, but the facts are simple,’ in a statement Wednesday. ‘In recent weeks, the Saudis conveyed to us – privately and publicly – their intention to reduce oil production, which they knew would increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions.’
Last week OPEC+ announced it would cut oil production by two million barrels per day, in a major blow to the Biden administration that for months had asked them to instead increase production. Production cuts are already jacking gas prices back up – $3.91 is the average cost per gallon as of Thursday, up eight cents from when the cut was announced last week.
‘The country that benefits the most from this 2 million barrel cut is Russia,’ Kirby said in a call with reporters.
The cut ‘allows [Putin] to continue to fund his war making machine and it certainly gave him, Mr Putin, a sense of comfort here,’ Kirby continued.
