Saudi Arabia’s defense of OPEC+ cuts draws sharp US rebuke

Saudi Arabia’s defense of OPEC+ cuts draws sharp US rebuke

The White House on Thursday shot back at Saudi Arabia’s claim that delaying its steep production cuts by a month would have had negative economic consequences. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed today that US officials had asked Riyadh to postpone its decision but not because of domestic political considerations.

"The Saudi Foreign Ministry can try to spin or deflect, but the facts are simple," Kirby told reporters. “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.”

The rare public tit-for-tat between the two countries comes a week after OPEC+ announced it was slashing oil output by 2 million barrels per day starting next month, despite US concerns that the supply cut will further push up oil prices and undermine efforts to choke off Russia’s oil revenues. 

The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a lengthy statement late Wednesday describing the cut as "purely economic” and agreed on by all 23 OPEC+ members. The ministry also suggested that the Biden administration had asked Saudi Arabia, as the de facto head of OPEC+, to postpone the decision until after the Nov. 8 midterm elections. 

US officials presented Saudi