Recently, Joe Biden pled for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as Russia, to produce more oil in light of the fact that gasoline prices have escalated dramatically across the United States since January. One of Biden’s first decisions as president was to eliminate the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have created jobs and energy sources.
However, OPEC, along with Russia, have now rejected Biden’s plea for increasing oil production. On the contrary, OPEC and Russia contend that they are comfortable with the current prices of oil. Furthermore, various officials representing OPEC informed reporters on Monday that they perceived “no need” to produce any more oil for the global market at this point in time, particularly in the wake of decimated demand for oil in 2020.
OPEC also noted that the latest decision involved boosting production by approximately 400,000 barrels on a daily basis, and the organization intends to adhere to that target. Biden has recently begged OPEC and Russia for greater oil output in order to reduce the escalating prices of gasoline, as well as inflation, which has exacerbated the consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI).
Nonetheless, OPEC pointed out that the International Energy Agency (IEA) does not support Biden’s pleas for additional oil production.
According to Troil Bosoni, who serves as the Oil Market Division Head of IEA, OPEC has already stated in “many of their meetings” that they presently meet on a monthly basis in order to either halt, continue, or, in some circumstances, “even reverse the cuts as required by the market.”
At this point in time, “we think the market is looking relatively well balanced for the remainder of this year,” Bosoni continued.
Gas prices haven’t been this high since 2014 — the last time Joe Biden was in the White House. Biden is blaming OPEC and gasoline producers when he really should be looking in the mirror to find the problem.
— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) August 12, 2021
At this point in time, Russia and OPEC are reportedly planning to keep current oil prices at approximately $70,000 per barrel. Furthermore, both entities may consider a reduction of oil output should global demand become decimated once again, as it did during the height of the COVID pandemic and global lockdowns.
