United States President Joe Biden says Saudi Arabia will face “consequences” after the OPEC+ led by the Kingdom announced a cut in crude oil production.
Last week, the OPEC+ group said it would slash oil production targets by two million barrels a day, defying pressure from the US.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said the decision aimed to stabilise the oil market – not drive up prices – amid interest rate hikes by central banks and the prospects of a global recession.
“There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done with Russia,” Biden said in an interview with CNN.
“I’m not going to get into what I’d consider and what I have in mind. But there will be, there will be consequences.”
His remarks on Tuesday come a day after influential Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US must immediately freeze all cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales.
Reacting to US backlash, Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday defended the move, saying it “was purely economic and was taken unanimously by the [organisation’s] member states”.
“OPEC+ members acted responsibly and took the appropriate decision,” he told Al-Arabiya television station.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday also defended the planned cuts, saying “our decisions … aren’t directed against anyone”.
“Our actions are aimed at ensuring stability in global energy markets to make both consumers of energy resources and those who deal with production and supplies feel calm, stability and confidence, to help balance supply and demand,” Putin added, as he hosted United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Saint Petersburg.
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