{"id":259535,"date":"2022-10-06T06:50:24","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T06:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=259535"},"modified":"2022-10-08T07:24:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T07:24:40","slug":"gas-prices-set-to-soar-again-in-total-disaster-for-president-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=259535","title":{"rendered":"Gas prices set to soar again in ‘total disaster’ for President Biden"},"content":{"rendered":"

White House accuses Opec+ of aligning with Russia<\/strong><\/h1>\n

David Shepherd, Derek Brower, Tome Wilson and Justin Jacobs \u2013 FT.com Oct 5, 2022<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Putin greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Beunos Aires. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

The White House has accused Opec+ of aligning with Russia after Saudi Arabia led the group in agreeing deep oil production cuts, prompting a backlash from countries already battling surging energy inflation triggered by Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The Opec+ group said it would reduce production targets by 2mn barrels a day, equivalent to 2 per cent of global supply, following its first in-person meeting in two years in Vienna. The actual cut in output is likely to be closer to 1mn b\/d as many weaker members have struggled to hit production targets in recent months.<\/p>\n

The decision to cut came despite extensive lobbying by the US government before the meeting and marks a significant breach with the Biden administration, which is seeking to drive down oil and petrol prices ahead of crucial midterm elections in November and to starve Russia of energy revenues.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration criticised the move on cuts, saying it was a \u201cshortsighted decision\u201d at a time when \u201cmaintaining a global supply of energy is of paramount importance\u201d. A White House spokesperson told reporters on Air Force One it was \u201cclear\u201d Opec+ was \u201caligning with Russia\u201d, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman dismissed suggestions that the cartel\u2019s cuts would hurt oil consumers, arguing instead that the group\u2019s actions were intended to encourage long-term investment in oil production.<\/p>\n

\u201cShow me where is the act of belligerence,\u201d he said in response to questions following the announcement. Energy markets required \u201cguidance without which investment would not happen\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to the Opec+ decision, the US said it would continue to release oil from its strategic stockpiles \u201cas appropriate\u201d and was exploring \u201cadditional responsible actions\u201d to lift domestic oil supply.<\/p>\n

Biden will also work with Congress on legislation to \u201creduce Opec\u2019s control over energy prices\u201d, its statement added, in an apparent reference to anti-cartel legislation known as NOPEC that has long been considered by US lawmakers but never passed.<\/p>\n

Oil prices have risen more than 5 per cent since Friday in the run-up to the meeting, and international benchmark Brent edged higher to $93.95 a barrel after news of the cut.<\/p>\n

Analysts said Saudi Arabia\u2019s move, which will damage western governments\u2019 efforts to curb Russian oil income used to sustain its war in Ukraine, marked a significant moment in Riyadh\u2019s 75-year-long energy alliance with the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudi Arabia has set Opec on a collision course with the free world. They have sided with Russia in the name of protective oil market management \u2014 just as consumers across the world are battling inflation and the rising cost of living,\u201d said Bill Farren-Price, a veteran Opec watcher at consultancy Enverus. \u201cThere are bound to be political consequences for Riyadh.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cartel\u2019s decision to cut comes hours after EU countries agreed to a US plan to impose a price cap on Russian oil exports, an effort by western countries to drive down prices of crude and fuel. Saudi Arabia and other Opec Gulf countries feared this plan would cut oil prices across the board and could even be used against them in future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is hugely political and a very clear signal of Opec\u2019s discontent regarding the price cap,\u201d said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects. \u201cRegardless of whether the price cap is actually effective, they see this as a dangerous precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opec secretary-general Haitham al-Ghais from Kuwait argued the group was providing \u201csecurity\u201d and \u201cstability\u201d for energy markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything has a price,\u201d he said. \u201cEnergy security has a price as well.\u201d United Arab Emirates energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said that the group was focused on averting an oil price crash like the one in 2008, and did not want to get involved with discussions over Russia\u2019s role in the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Europe they have their own story, in Russia they have their own story. We can\u2019t be siding with this country or that country,\u201d Mazrouei told the FT.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n

Also see:<\/p>\n

The White House Is In A Panic To Stop The OPEC+ Production Cut<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The White House was ‘having a spasm and panicking’ over the potential outcomes of OPEC’s decision to cut production, an unnamed administration official told CNN. As Biden administration accuses Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[66,91,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Economics","category-russia","category-ukraine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259535"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259599,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259535\/revisions\/259599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}