Saudi Arabia says US sought a month delay of OPEC+ decision

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the U.S. had urged the kingdom to postpone a decision by OPEC and its allies — including Russia — to cut oil production by a month which would have been just before the upcoming American midterm elections.

A statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry didn't specifically mention the elections, crucial to U.S. President Joe Biden maintaining his Democratic Party's narrow majorities in Congress. However, it stated that the U.S. “suggested” the cuts be delayed by a month as opposed to being implemented at OPEC's Oct. 5 meeting in Vienna.

A month delay would have put them just before the Nov. 8 elections — where they likely couldn't have drastically influenced prices at the pump.

Rising oil prices — and by extension higher gasoline prices — have been a key driver of inflation in the U.S. and around the world, worsening global economic woes as Russia's monthslong war on Ukraine also has disrupted global food supplies. For Biden, gasoline prices creeping up could affect voters. He and many lawmakers have warned that America's longtime security-based relationship with the kingdom could be reconsidered.

The White House has rejected an attempts to link the OPEC request to the elections, but Saudi Arabia issuing a rare, lengthy statement shows just how tense relations are between the two countries. That's even years after the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which Washington believes came on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Meanwhile, higher energy prices provide a weapon Russia can use against the West, which has been arming and supporting Ukraine.

The statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the kingdom had been talking to...