Gee, I thought they said it was about stopping Russia, or something

Biden begged Saudis to delay oi production cuts until after the election

Biden administration officials urged Saudi Arabia to delay production cuts until a few days before the midterm elections, meaning that Americans would not have felt the impact of reduced supplies before casting their ballots, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russia-led allies, which are collectively known as OPEC+, cut crude oil production on Oct. 5 by 2 million barrels per day to reduce global supply and raise prices. Before the cut was announced, the Biden administration begged Saudi Arabia, a founding member of OPEC, to delay the decision until November, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations. (RELATED: Biden Turns To Venezuela For Oil After OPEC Slashes Production)

Saudi Arabia viewed the appeals as a cynical attempt to avoid fallout prior to the November elections and refused to do so, according to the WSJ. The Arab kingdom instead pressured its OPEC allies to vote to slash production following the Biden administration’s attempts to delay the cuts.

A National Security Council spokeswoman told the WSJ that the administration’s efforts were not politically motivated. Administration officials did not trust Saudi predictions about a fall in oil prices and wanted the nation to wait another month before cutting production to analyze the global market’s reaction, according to the spokeswoman.