Report: OPEC Snubs Biden, Rejects Plea for More Oil

The Biden administration’s plea for more oil production has been rejected by OPEC and its allies, including Russia, according to Reuters.

The group of big oil producers believe oil markets do not need more oil than they plan to release in the coming months, Reuters reported.

The report cited “four sources” but did not name them. Reporting on internal OPEC decisions is often based on unnamed sources.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is a cartel of 13 nations that includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  A larger group, that also includes Russia, Mayalasia, and Mexico, is known as OPEC+.

The plea for more oil came in the form of remarks from national security adviser Jake Sullivan last week. Sullivan complained the price of crude oil has been higher than it was before the pandemic hit. He said that the decision by OPEC last month to raise oil production by 400,000 barrels per day is “simply not enough.”

“President Biden has made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump,” Sullivan said. “Although we are not a party to OPEC, the United States will always speak to international partners regarding issues of significance that affect our national economic and security affairs, in public and private.”

Gas prices have fallen by less than one cent over the past week and are up by two cents from a month ago.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reacted to Sullivan’s remarks by asking the Biden administration to set American producers free to meet rising demand.

“Dear White House: Texas can do this,” Abbott tweeted. “Our producers can easily produce that oil if your administration will just stay out of the way.”