Joe Biden, the United States president, has warned Saudi Arabia that there will be “consequences” after a global cartel of oil-producing countries led by the kingdom and Russia announced that they would cut oil production despite Washington’s objections.
His remarks on Tuesday come a day after influential Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US must immediately freeze all cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales.
Last week, the OPEC+ group said it would slash oil production targets by two million barrels a day, defying pressure from the US.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said the decision aimed to stabilise the oil market – not drive up prices – amid interest rate hikes by central banks and the prospects of a global recession.
But critics argued the production curbs raise oil prices globally, which generates more revenue for Russia to continue to fund its war in Ukraine, despite Western sanctions on its economy.
Credit: aljazeera.com
