Biden to his OPEC/Russian masters: "please, oh pleeeze don't cut production by a million barrels! Please?"

mission accomplished

Okay, Big Guy, we’ll cut two million.

Is it cruel to point out that Biden’s been draining our Strategic Petroleum Reserve by a million barrels a day since April? First intended to stop after September, he recently extend the drain through November’s elections.

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Inside the White House’s failed effort to dissuade OPEC from cutting oil production to avoid a ‘total disaster’

For the past several days, Biden’s senior-most energy, economic and foreign policy officials were enlisted to lobby their foreign counterparts in Middle Eastern allied countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to vote against cutting oil production. Wednesday’s production cut amounts to the largest cut since the beginning of the pandemic and could lead to a dramatic spike in oil prices.

Some of the draft talking points circulated by the White House to the Treasury Department on Monday that were obtained by CNN framed the prospect of a production cut as a “total disaster” and warned that it could be taken as a “hostile act.”

“It’s important everyone is aware of just how high the stakes are,” said a US official of what was framed as a broad administration effort that is expected to continue in the lead up to the Wednesday OPEC+ meeting.

The White House is “having a spasm and panicking,” another US official said, describing this latest administration effort as “taking the gloves off.”

For Biden, a dramatic cut in oil production could not come at a worse time. The administration has for months engaged in an intensive domestic and foreign policy effort to mitigate soaring energy prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That work appeared to pay off, with US gasoline prices falling for almost 100 days in a row.

But with just a month to go before the critical midterm elections, US gasoline prices have begun to creep up again, posing a political risk the White House is desperately trying to avoid. As US officials have moved to gauge potential domestic options to head off gradual increases over the last several weeks, the news of major OPEC+ action presents a particularly acute challenge.

Watson, the NSC spokesperson declined to comment on the midterms, saying instead, “Thanks to the President’s efforts, energy prices have declined sharply from their highs and American consumers are paying far less at the pump.”

All hands on deck

Amos Hochstein, Biden’s top energy envoy, has played a leading role in the lobbying effort, which has been far more extensive than previously reported amid extreme concern in the White House over the potential cut. Hochstein, along with top national security official Brett McGurk and the administration’s special envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking, traveled to Jeddah late last month to discuss a range of energy and security issues as a follow up to Biden’s high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia in July.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds points out an “irony”: [A]llowing domestic drilling puts money in the hands of an industry and a worker demographic that Democrats regard as enemies. Better we should send that money to Russia, Venezuela, or Saudi Arabia.