Saudi Arabia: US sought delay of OPEC+ decision

Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the U.S. had urged the kingdom to postpone a decision by OPEC and its allies — including Russia — to cut oil production by a month until just before the upcoming American midterm elections.

A statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry didn't specifically mention the elections, crucial to U.S. President Joe Biden maintaining his Democratic Party's narrow majorities in Congress.

However, it stated that the U.S. "suggested" the cuts be delayed by a month, which would have them just before the Nov. 8 elections — where they likely couldn't have drastically influenced prices at the pump.

Rising oil prices — and by extension higher gasoline prices — have been a key driver of inflation in the U.S. and around the world, worsening global economic woes as Russia's monthslong war on Ukraine also has disrupted global food supplies.

For Biden, gasoline prices creeping up could affect voters and he and lawmakers have warned that America's longtime security-based relationship with the kingdom could be reconsidered.

The White House has rejected attempts to link the OPEC request to the elections, but Saudi Arabia issuing a rare, lengthy statement shows just how tense relations are between the two countries.

That's even years after the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which Washington believes came on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Meanwhile, higher energy prices provide a weapon Russia can use against the West, which has been arming and supporting Ukraine.

The statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the kingdom had been talking to the U.S. about postponing OPEC+'s 2 million barrel cut announced last week.

"The government of the kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the U.S. 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," the ministry said in its statement.

The ministry's statement confirmed a Wall Street Journal article this week that also said the U.S. sought to delay the OPEC+ production cut until just before the midterm elections. The Journal quoted unnamed Saudi officials as describing the move as a political gambit by Biden ahead of the vote.

The kingdom also criticized attempts to link the kingdom's decision to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Both Saudi Arabia and the neighboring United Arab Emirates, key producers in OPEC, voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution Wednesday to condemn Russia's "attempted illegal annexation" of four Ukrainian regions and demand its immediate reversal.