US President Joe Biden Photo: Gettyimages.ru
According to the White House, the administration will consult with the US Congress on “additional tools and authorities to reduce OPEC’s control over energy prices.”
US President Joe Biden is “disappointed by the short-sighted decision” of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) to cut production by two million barrels per day, read a statement published this Wednesday in the White House website.
“At a time when maintaining a global supply of energy is of paramount importance, this decision will have the most negative impact on lower- and middle-income countries that are already reeling from elevated energy prices,” read the White House statement.
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It is noted that Biden will continue to order the release of millions of barrels from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and that he is instructing the Secretary of Energy to study the possibilities of further increasing domestic production in the short term.
In addition, the Biden administration will consult with the US Congress on “additional tools and authorities to reduce OPEC’s control over energy prices.”
The statement was released just hours after members agreed to a deep cut in their output target at an OPEC+ meeting in Vienna, curbing supply in an already tight market, despite pressure from Washington to pump more. .
Several experts maintain that this step will be a blow to the Biden administration, since it would cause a significant increase in the price of gasoline in the US.
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For his part, the secretary general of the organization, Haitham al-Ghais, indicated during a press conference held after the OPEC+ meeting that “they are not endangering the energy markets,” but rather, “they are providing security, stability to the energy markets… Everything has a price. Energy security also has a price.”
(RT)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/FV
