The White House said all options are being considered after the OPEC group's decision to cut oil production, despite US arguments that this will raise fuel costs and endanger world economies.
President Joe Biden's administration is angry at Saudi Arabia for overseeing Wednesday's move by the OPEC cartel and an additional group of 10 exporters led by Russia to cut production by two million barrels a day in a bid to boost oil prices.
Biden is trying to isolate major energy producer Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while trying to tamp down US consumer prices ahead of midterm elections next month.
What alternatives might we have? Biden told reporters that they were trying to counter the expected price hikes.
Biden said there were a lot of options that could include further releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, potentially increased US domestic drilling, and more drastic measures, including limits on exports.
Biden's chief economic advisor Brian Deese told reporters aboard Air Force One that we need to look at what tools are necessary in order to make the next move happen. Officials are not sure what the next move will be but Biden's chief economic advisor, Brian Deese, said to reporters that we need to look at what tools are necessary. Asked whether this could include a ban or limit on exports of US production, Deese said the president has directed that we have all options on the table and that will continue to be the case. That's how we approach this question. Deese didn't rule out an idea that was being debated in Congress for a law stripping immunity in antitrust suits, which could potentially allow the US government to take the oil cartel members to court.
He said we will be evaluating and consulting with Congress about a range of issues.
Deese said the decision of theOPEC was unwarranted, because the global economy is in such a weak state, and that lack of supply continues to be a major challenge for consumers.
He said that the production cuts may not have as much effect on markets because members of the cartel are struggling to meet their output quotas, meaning the headline figure of two million barrels fewer per day doesn't meet reality.
We're going to have to see the actual impact of this, Deese said. The impact on production will be much less than that.