• Oil-consuming nations have suffered as a result of the OPEC+ alliance’s decision.
• It was to drastically reduce output and raise crude prices.
• The 13-nation OPEC bloc decided to reduce output by two million barrels per day.

Oil-consuming nations have suffered as a result of the OPEC+ alliance’s decision to drastically reduce output and raise crude prices. This has led to charges that Gulf producers are supporting Russia at the expense of the United States and its allies in the West.

The 13-nation OPEC bloc, along with 10 allies led by Moscow, decided to reduce output by two million barrels per day (bpd) beginning in November, according to a statement released by the group on Wednesday.

The Biden administration expressed frustration over the potential for pump prices to rise further before a crucial midterm election. The government has spent months trying to convince its Middle Eastern friends not to reduce the oil supply.

The move by OPEC+ was “short-sighted,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday, as the world economy was still suffering from “the continuous devastating impact of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”

With today’s announcement, “OPEC+ is obviously siding with Russia,” said Jean-Pierre.

However, OPEC has refuted such a charge. On Friday, Haitham al-Ghais, the group’s secretary-general, said, “This was not a decision from one country against another.”

Al-Ghais said to Al Arabiya TV, “I want to be clear in saying this, and it’s not a decision from two or three countries versus a bunch of other countries.”

Saudi Arabia, one of the major OPEC members, added that the action was required in response to escalating Western interest rates and a deteriorating global economy.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman demanded, “Show me where is the act of belligerence,” adding that markets needed “direction without which investment would not materialize.”

On Wednesday, Mohammed al-Fares, Kuwait’s acting oil minister, said that while the alliance recognized customers’ concerns about skyrocketing prices, their primary focus was “maintaining a balance between supply and demand.”

The leader of the consulting company Crystal Energy, Carole Nakhle, rejected the justification. According to Nakhle, the fundamentals of the interaction between supply and demand are that the market always finds equilibrium.

Saudi Arabia’s support for a move that, although beneficial to its short-term economic objectives, conflicts with Riyadh’s long-term security interests and harms Biden’s prospects ahead of the November elections has infuriated Washington.

The high price of oil, which has thus far helped the Kremlin to withstand the blow of Western sanctions, will also be advantageous for Russia.

The OPEC+ decision was made a day after EU ambassadors decided to enact a fresh set of economic sanctions in an effort to undermine Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. These sanctions include a price cap on Russian oil sales and a ban on the majority of crude oil imports, which will be implemented over the coming months.

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