President Joe Biden has stated that we can rely on oil from OPEC and that he has a positive relationship with oil-producing nations in the Middle East. Republicans believe that we should produce our own oil rather than relying on others when we have the power to do so.

Now judgments made by these others will influence the United States, yet the United States is not at the table.

Aljazeera reports:

“OPEC has recently sharply cut production and is raising crude prices which have dealt a blow to consuming nations, prompting accusations that Gulf producers are siding with Russia at the expense of the United States and its Western allies.

While not a member of OPEC, Russia has had a relationship with the alliance, and coincidentally now stands to benefit from the high oil prices which have so far allowed the Kremlin to withstand the shock of Western sanctions.

The 13-nation OPEC group, plus 10 allies led by Moscow, agreed at a meeting in Vienna to slash output by two million barrels per day (bpd) starting in November, the group announced in a statement Wednesday.”

President Biden came to the Middle Eastern nation in July in an attempt to get assurances over oil output, but was unsuccessful.

Aljazeera says, ” The Biden administration, which for months has engaged in diplomatic efforts to dissuade its Middle Eastern allies from cutting oil production, reacted frustrated at the prospect of pump prices increasing further before a key midterm election.”

The government was apparently “panicking” about the potential drop, since it will undoubtedly increase petrol costs in the weeks preceding the November elections.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on Thursday refuting U.S. claims that it curtailed oil output for political reasons or that it coerced other OPEC members to do the same, stating that “this decision was taken unanimously by all member states of the OPEC+ group.”

According to the Foreign Ministry’s research, the U.S. proposal to delay the oil cut decision for at least one month “would have had negative economic consequences.”

The Biden administration has frequently voiced “disappointment” with Saudi Arabia’s choice, and has now said publicly that OPEC has chosen Russia above the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

A White House official issued a searing response Thursday to Saudi Arabia after its Foreign Ministry claimed it decided to reduce oil production in a “purely economic context” outside of its relationship with Russia.

“The Saudi Foreign Ministry can try to spin or deflect, but the facts are simple,” John Kirby, the White House coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, said. CONTINUE READING…