The White House on Wednesday blasted the decision by OPEC and its allies to reduce oil production to two million barrels per day. They said that this decision was shortsighted and could potentially lead to another increase in gas prices.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan and top economic adviser Brian Deese in a statement said that this decision was questionable as at this time it was important for the global energy supply to remain stable. They also said this decision could have an even greater impact on low and middle-income countries which will not be able to deal with the high energy prices.
Next month the Department of Energy is set to release 10 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Biden has said that this release is necessary to both protect American consumers and help with energy security.
In the statement, Sullivan and Deese also said that Biden wants U.S. energy companies to keep working to bring the pump prices down, as there is currently a historic gap in the wholesale and retail price of gas.
The White House has also said that it would be important for them to transition and not be as reliant on fossil fuels. This has been a big part of the agenda that the administration has been promoting.
The announcement made by OPEC+, which includes the 13 OPEC nations and 11 non-members, is going to result in a reduction of around 2% for the global supply.
The immediate effects of the decision are not yet clear but if it leads to an increase in gas prices, then that could potentially be a problem for Biden and the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.