"[I]t [OPEC+ decision to cut oil production] certainly wasn't in keeping with the conversations that we were having [with Saudi Arabia]," Kirby said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
Kirby recalled that the United States discussed the issue with the Saudi leadership before and during President Joe Biden’s visit to the desert kingdom in July and there was an increase in oil production in the aftermath of his trip.
Earlier on Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the Biden administration thought it had struck a deal with Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil production and felt duped when the OPEC+ then made the exact opposite decision.
OPEC+ unanimously agreed in early October to decrease oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting in November in response to uncertainty in global energy markets. The Biden administration condemned the supply cut as short-sighted amid rising energy prices in the United States and Europe, accusing Saudi Arabia of aligning itself with Russia.
Riyadh has rejected the accusations, saying that the decision to slash oil production was to stabilize the global market amid declining demand caused by slowing economies around the world.