Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday that action would be taken when the House of Representatives and the Senate get back to work but didn’t offer details on what form that might take.
On Wednesday, October 4, the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations said that they had agreed to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day to raise prices, despite objections and lobbying from the White House.
“There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done, with Russia,” Biden said on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to get into what I’d consider and what I have in mind. But there will be – there will be consequences,” the president added.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman supported the cut in production as his country argued the price of oil could fall too low. The decision may help Russian revenues from oil sales as President Vladimir Putin continues the war in Ukraine, which enjoys U.S. and Western support against Russia.
Three Democratic representatives - Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, Sean Casten of Illinois and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania - have introduced legislation that would see U.S. forces pull out of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has called for the U.S. to freeze all cooperation with Saudi Arabia “including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend U.S. personnel and interests.”
Menendez has said the oil-production cut will help the Russian war effort.
Newsweek has asked the White House for comment.
Robert Singh, a professor at the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London, told Newsweek that the OPEC+ decision “was certainly a blow to the Biden administration. This wasn’t either simply or even primarily about Russia and Ukraine.”
“Energy-market analysts are putting it down to fears about a possible recession and reduction in usage and price, hence the oil-producing states are seeking to maximize revenues now to protect against future downturns,” he added.
Singh said it would be “extremely difficult to pass legislation mandating a military withdrawal” and that the Biden administration would oppose such a move “from strategic calculations.”
“However difficult, the Saudis remain a key player, both on energy and on Iran. Biden will not want to lose what leverage the U.S. still retains,” Singh said.
“As Biden’s visit to the kingdom this summer showed, while castigating the Saudis plays well to the Democratic Party base, and indeed, to Americans more broadly, the realpolitik demands of global politics and economics currently means that his administration will not, in substance, be treating Riyadh or other Arab GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] states as pariahs,” he added.
