OPEC-plus states will convene on Wednesday to consider the possibility of scaling back oil production of up to 1-2 million barrels per day or more due to a declining demand caused by slowing economic activities around the world, according to media reports.
The report said on Tuesday that the White House is warning that much will be at stake for the United States at OPEC's meeting and a decision to cut oil production would be a "total disaster" for the country.
The Biden administration assembled its most high-level energy, economic and foreign policy officials and tasked them to lobby Middle East allies, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, to vote against cutting oil production.
The United States, in an effort to persuade its OPEC allies, is proposing that it would buyback up to 200 million barrels of oil from its OPEC partners that would be used to refill the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which President Joe Biden has been using to help lower oil prices.