Prices for oil shot up across the board Monday following a sudden decision by the OPEC+ oil alliance to slash production by over a million barrels a day.
Brent crude oil, which according to Just The News is the global benchmark for the product, reportedly peaked at $84.80 a barrel by 8:30 a.m. ET. This marks a price change of almost $5, which is to say over 6% since the market shut down Friday night.
An OPEC+ announcement delivered Monday revealed that Algeria, Gabon, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are stopping the production of over 1 million barrels per day beginning in May. This is planned to last until at least the end of the year.
A couple of reporters recently asked Joe Biden for his reaction to the oil production cuts by OPEC, to which he eventually replied, “It’s not gonna be as bad as you think.”
Reporter #1: "On OPEC, do you have any reaction to the oil production cuts? OPEC?"
Biden: *blank stare*
Reporter #2: "ON OPEC!!!"
Biden: "It's not gonna be as bad as you think." pic.twitter.com/3qib56yj3C
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 4, 2023
Just The News noted that these reductions come after OPEC+ previously reported it would slash a daily production of 2 million barrels in October. This cut began in November.
A user on Twitter noted that former President Trump stood before the world stage several years ago to claim that OPEC and its member nations are “ripping off the rest of the world.”
“I don’t like it, nobody should like it,” Trump said at the time. “We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices.”
“Not good.”
Four years ago on the world stage, President Trump said OPEC was ‘ripping off the rest of the world.'
Joe Biden would never stand up for American energy like this. pic.twitter.com/hnoDdJIS9r
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) April 4, 2023
The former president also asserted that the OPEC member nations must start lowering prices and offer far more contributions to U.S.-provided military production, and predicted that Germany would soon be “totally dependent on Russian energy” should it not quickly change course.
Many have pointed out that despite inviting ridicule at the time, then-President Trump’s remarks surrounding Russia and Germany’s energy relations aged very well.
AAA’s gas price tracker has revealed that the average gallon of gas in the U.S. costs $3.50, marking a significant increase from around $3.39 about a month ago.