OPEC rebuffs Biden, to cut production by 2 million barrels per day
The last thing that Joe Biden and congressional Democrats running for re-election want is a big rise in gasoline prices as voters head to the polls. And that is what OPEC has just made inevitable, with its announcement moments ago:
OPEC and its allies, including Russia, approved a two million barrel-a-day cut in oil production on Wednesday, its first large reduction in output since the early days of the pandemic.
The gathering of the group, known as OPEC Plus, was the first to be held in person since early 2020. The decision for oil officials to gather in Vienna signaled an intention to make a strong statement to energy markets about the group's cohesion and its willingness to act quickly to defend prices, analysts say.
Following a series of leaks and rumors about a big cut, the group had little choice but to follow through or risk the consequences of disappointing the markets.
The move beclowns the all-out push of the Biden administration. CNN yesterday night:
The Biden administration has launched a full-scale pressure campaign in a last-ditch effort to dissuade Middle Eastern allies from dramatically cutting oil production, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The push comes ahead of Wednesday's crucial meeting of OPEC, the international cartel of oil producers that is widely expected to announce a significant cut to output in an effort to raise oil prices. That in turn would cause US gasoline prices to rise at a precarious time for the Biden administration, just five weeks before the midterm elections.
For the past several days, President Joe Biden's senior-most energy, economic and foreign policy officials have been enlisted to lobby their foreign counterparts in Middle Eastern allied countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to vote against cutting oil production.
Drivers in California already pay more than $6 a gallon, and the rest of America soon will be seeing their prices move in that direction.
Fox 11 Los Angeles 10/4/22 (YouTube screen grab).
The move will further enrich Vladimir Putin and every other oil-exporting nation, most notably Saudi Arabia, which Biden called a "pariah" and then attempted to appease with a feckless and ineffective visit last July. Because Saudi Arabia has reserve capacity that could push world oil production up or down as it pleases, that nation has the biggest voice in OPEC price decisions.
Upon taking office, Biden halted a major pipeline and began choking off domestic U.S. oil production, which set off the current round of gasoline and other hydrocarbon fuel price hikes. By draining our strategic petroleum reserve, he attempted to mitigate the pain at the pump before the election, but this OPEC move counteracts that squandering of a strategic reserve for partisan political benefit.
In California, where I live, I suppose prices will hit 7 or 8 dollars a gallon, and inflation will jump for everyone.
Until Democrats are driven from power, the entire country will suffer.