The cuts were widely seen as a political blow to President Biden ahead of a tough winter and a month before midterm elections.
In response to the cuts, Biden said he would be reviewing the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and there would be “consequences” for the kingdom, one of 13 core members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The oil cartel has been joined by 10 partner nations, including Russia, to form OPEC Plus. A White House spokesman said Biden was also open to proposals by a group of U.S. lawmakers that would penalize Saudi Arabia, including by limiting security cooperation and arms sales.
The White House has been pressing Saudi Arabia to produce more oil to compensate for the global shortage and price increases caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden visited Saudi Arabia in July and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s day-to-day leader — brushing aside criticism from human rights activists who said such a meeting would reward the crown prince for his repressive tactics, including what U.S. intelligence said was his involvement in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden aides asserted that the purpose of the trip was to improve the U.S.-Saudi relationship, rather than to ensure the kingdom keeps producing oil at a certain level. Mohammed has denied he ordered Khashoggi’s killing.
The Saudi statement Thursday suggested that the Biden administration had asked the kingdom to postpone a decision to cut oil prices for a month, which would have delayed the fallout from the cuts until after the U.S. midterm elections. Such a delay, the statement said, “would have had negative economic consequences.”
The statement denied that Saudi Arabia was solely responsible for the decision to cut oil production, saying such measures were based on “consensus.”
“These outcomes are based purely on economic considerations that take into account maintaining balance of supply and demand in the oil markets, as well as aim to limit volatility that does not serve the interests of consumers and producers,” it said.
The Saudis also pushed back at criticism that the decision to cut production amounted to siding with Russia in its war in Ukraine.
“Any attempts to distort the facts about the Kingdom’s position regarding the crisis in Ukraine are unfortunate, and will not change the Kingdom’s principled position,” the statement said.
Sarah Dadouch in Beirut contributed to this report.
Read More: Saudi Arabia defends OPEC oil cut decision after Biden criticism
