Biden's administration concerned over lack of oil supplies: WH

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Oct 2022 22:05

In light of OPEC+'s recent decision to slash oil production by two million barrels per day, the White House predicts "significant challenges" lying ahead.

Lack of oil supply raises "significant" concerns: WH

Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese said on Thursday that insufficient supplies of oil in the global markets are raising concerns for Biden's administration.

"If you look at the global energy picture and oil picture, the lack of supply continues to be a significant challenge. We're going to have to see the actual impact of this [OPEC+’s decision]," Deese said during a press briefing.

"I wouldn't fully speculate … [about] the difference between the headline of what the OPEC members announced yesterday with respect to their quotas and the actual impact on production."

Deese also said the Biden administration has come up with some alternatives to OPEC+ oil supplies.

While focusing on other options, it expects US energy companies to lower their retail gasoline prices down to the cost of wholesale gasoline.

On Wednesday, OPEC+ member states voted on cutting their production of oil and agreed to reduce their oil production by 2 million barrels a day in light of the world's surging energy crisis.

Soon after the vote was announced, the US Treasury argued that a decrease in OPEC+ oil production will have disastrous effects on the US and has begun lobbying their Middle East allies to vote against that decision at the meeting this Wednesday.

Biden had previously tried to convince the organization to increase its oil output in a bid to cool the red-hot energy prices, traveling to Saudi Arabia with hopes of persuading Saudi Arabia to promise to increase its oil output and relieve the pressure on the global supply chain.

However, the price of oil rose even further after he left West Asia without striking a deal with Saudi Arabia on Riyadh pumping out more oil.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been viewed as the only two countries in the world's producer group, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, that have some spare capacity and could help increase global deliveries.

UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed told French President Emmanuel Macron in late June that Saudi Arabia and the UAE could barely increase oil production.

Attempting to curve the prices of oil in the US when all else failed, Washington has been actively using its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for over a year.

At the current pace of oil production, the reserves will shrink to a 40-year low with only 358 million barrels remaining by the end of October. Last year, the SPR location in Texas and Louisiana reportedly contained 621 million barrels. According to official information, the US is set to stop extractions from SPR in October.