On Sunday, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) cut their oil supply in an attempt to increase oil prices in a weakening world market. According to Newsweek (US and Saudi Arabia on Collision Course Over Oil Cuts), the decision strikes a new blow to the already souring relationship between the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia, as the Saudis are moving closer to Russia and China. Last month, the Chinese pushed Saudi Arabia to renew its diplomatic relations with Iran. Sunday’s move takes the Saudis another step farther from the US.
President Biden’s repeated failures to keep Saudi Arabia in the fold of American influence is especially surprising since the one thing Joe Biden knows is the Middle East, having served years on the Senate Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with two stints as committee chairman. For a variety of reasons, US relations with Saudi Arabia went south as soon as Biden replaced President Donald Trump.
Last year, after the Saudis cut their oil production––ignoring a US request to increase production to fight inflation, the White House accused them of siding with Russia. Well, they are, as well as with China and Iran. And as a result, on Monday, Brent oil futures rose by $4.30 to $84.19 a barrel, and US crude went up by $4.17 to $79.84.
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia is cutting its output by 500,000 barrels per day, Iraq by 211,000 bpd, UAE by 144,000 bpd, Kuwait by 128,000, Oman by 40,000 bpd, Algeria by 48,000 bpd, and Kazakhstan by 78,000 bpd.
The rise in oil prices has slowed down the effort to bring down the rate of inflation in the US. According to the Fed, prices in the US in February were 6% higher than a year ago, down from an annual rate of 6.4% in January and the 9.1% peak last June. It makes for a very slow recovery.
