The Biden administration downplayed the effect of the surprise decision by OPEC+ to continue production cuts, insisting that the situation is different than last year. This response contrasts the administration’s stance in October of last year when President Joe Biden threatened consequences for Saudi Arabia after the OPEC+ cut. The administration’s current response was outlined by National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby at Wednesday’s White House briefing.
Kirby pointed out that the oil has traded down for the past month to around $80 per barrel, reaching as low as $63 last month. By comparison, last year, prices soared to well above $110, even hitting $139 briefly in overnight trading in early March. During the prior OPEC+ cut in October, the price per barrel sat at $88….
