After OPEC's decision to reduce oil production by two million barrels per day, US President Joe Biden blamed Saudi Arabia and Russia for the rise in gasoline prices, indicating that he was looking for alternatives in the wake of the decision.
US President Joe Biden, on Friday evening, blamed Saudi Arabia and Russia for the rise in gasoline prices, after OPEC's decision to cut oil production by two million barrels per day.
Biden said in a press statement from Maryland, north of Washington, "I was able to reduce gasoline prices by more than $1.60, but prices started gradually rising because of what the Russians and Saudis did, but I'm not done with that yet."
He indicated that he is looking for alternatives in the wake of the "OPEC" decision to reduce global oil production by about two million barrels per day.
Senior Biden administration officials said the decision was a sign that OPEC was "aligning itself" with Russia, which is waging war on Ukraine.
Global oil prices rose 10% this week, following the announcement of production cuts last Wednesday.
The decision to cut production is supposed to enter into force next November.
Biden seeks to mitigate the effects of the decision on the US market by allowing the release of about 10 million barrels of US strategic reserves.
In turn, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration is preparing to reduce sanctions imposed on Venezuela to allow Chevron Corp. to resume pumping oil there.
The move aims to reopen US and European markets to Venezuelan oil exports, people familiar with the matter told the US newspaper.
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