To me this is one of the bigger failings of Biden's administration that really isn't getting enough coverage considering how important it is. During the spring, to keep oil prices down (and approval ratings stable) Biden decided to tap the strategic oil reserve. In spring 2020, the SPR contained 634 million barrels out of a capacity of 727 million. Now, the reserve is below 442 million barrels, its lowest level in 38 years. Biden tried to get our Saudi 'allies' to pump more previously to stabilize prices but they gave us the cold shoulder because Biden publicly condemned the Saudis over Khashoggi's death.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. Russia about a week ago suggested to OPEC+ that they should cut oil production. The reason if it's not obvious is because they get a significant amount of income from selling oil abroad. Because of the sanctions, they have to sell at a discount but if oil drops significantly enough then they're obviously not going to sell below production cost (idk if this is still the case but when I did some research prior their production costs were between $30-35/barrel). Today, OPEC+ announces 2mm barrel/day production cuts... Once again spitting in Biden's face.

Recommend reading this twitter chain as well. This guy does a tremendous job of highlighting the key points and how this actually dates back to 2020.

https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1577680926816903168



https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-heads-deep-supply-cuts-clash-with-us-2022-10-04/

Russia seen suggesting OPEC+ cuts oil output by 1 mln bpd - source

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-seen-suggesting-opec-cuts-oil-output-by-1-mln-bpd-source-2022-09-27/

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Oct 5 2022 08:03pm

Meanwhile we have the least reserved oil than we have had in decades, all to cut gasoline prices during the summer before an election.

The Suadis should be condemned over Kashoggi's death, just FYI.

Russia can and will sell below production cost. It is massively more expensive to stop pumping and then restart when prices rise than it is to keep pumping throughout.

This is a quota cut. They have already been under their quota by 3 million barrels a day. Meaning this QUOTA CUT, not PRODUCTION CUT, doesn't actually amount to a change of the status quo.


So this isn't really news.

This post was edited by NetflixAdaptationWidow on Oct 5 2022 08:26pm

How come Biden's admin did a 180 in a phone booth and now are seeking sovereign immunity for bin Salman?

Edit, and you’re right that this is a quota cut but you’re actually wrong that this won’t impact prod cuts. It’ll essentially take close to 1k barrels of oil/day off the market.

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Oct 5 2022 09:38pm

Because they're wrong. Duh.

Politics is brutal and unfair. We don't always have the power to punish who'd we like. The administration threatened to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state. Maybe they should be, but the threats were empty. It turns out we needed Saudi Arabia as we've needed them for a hundred years.

We need leaders who can be adults in the room. American interests include American moral interests, but they have to be balanced against the realities of America's position and the relative constraints on its power.

Well you see, Donald Trump was a buffoon and lost us legitimacy on the world stage and all the world powers laughed at us and no longer respected us, so they felt free to walk all over us and ignore our demands. Trump threatened NS2, armed Ukraine, demanded NATO invest in its military, demanded Saudis pump more or less oil when it benefited us, etc etc, and naturally it was all rejected out of hand because he was seen as illegitimate and powerless. Then Joe Biden was elected and restored America's geopolitical gravitas. All the rest of the world lined up to bow before him and heeded his every demand. He united the entire world with America again, restoring confidence in NATO and bringing OPEC to heel and subjugating Russia. Its everything the pundits ever predicted during the 2020 election, come to pass. Joe Biden delivered us.

Remember when Biden pulled the usa out of Afghanistan and embarrassed the usa on the world stage.

This post was edited by Mondain on Oct 6 2022 12:09am

I believe trump made that call.

Is this an inside joke or something? It's not funny.