Saudi Arabia suggests Biden administration tried to delay OPEC+ production cut until after midterms

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday defended the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision to cut oil production and suggested that the Biden administration attempted to delay the decision until after the U.S. midterms.

The OPEC+ oil alliance decided to cut production by 2 million barrels a day starting next month "based purely on economic considerations," Saudi Arabia said in a press release.

The White House had condemned OPEC+'s decision and responded by announcing the release of 10 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The Foreign Ministry alluded to a request to delay the decision on production cuts until after the midterm elections, in which Democrats are projected to lose the House.

"The Government of the Kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the US Administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences," Saudi Arabia said.

The oil cartel's decision comes after President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia over the summer and attempted to negotiate an oil deal amid soaring energy prices.