Washington (Web Desk): President Joe Biden has pledged “there will be consequences” for US relations with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ announced last week that it would cut its oil production target over US objections.
Biden, in an interview with CNN, would not discuss what options he was considering.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said a policy review would be conducted but gave no timeline for action or information on who would lead the re-evaluation. The United States will be watching the situation closely “over the coming weeks and months”, she said.
Earlier, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said the United States must immediately freeze all cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the OPEC+ decision was purely economic and was taken unanimously by its member states.
“OPEC+ members acted responsibly and took the appropriate decision,” Prince Faisal told the Al Arabiya television channel.
OPEC+, the oil producer group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus allies including Russia, announced the production target after weeks of lobbying by US officials against such a move.
The United States accused Saudi Arabia of kowtowing to Russia, which objects to a Western cap on the price of Russian oil in reswponse to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US officials had been quietly trying to persuade its biggest Arab partner to abandon the idea of a production cut, but Saudi Arabia's de factor ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was not swayed.
Bin Salman and Biden had clashed during Biden’s visit to Jeddah in July over the death in 2018 of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.