OPEC and Russia vote to slash oil output as they ignore Biden’s pleas

The Biden administration’s scramble to avoid another surge in US gas prices took a major hit Wednesday after OPEC and Russia approved a significant cut in oil production.

Oil jumped to $87 on Wednesday after the OPEC+, a group of oil-producing nations that includes Russia, slashed output limits by 2 million barrels per day. The cut would mark the largest drop in OPEC+ oil production since 2020 and add additional pressure to global energy markets already reeling from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Bloomberg reported.

The cuts were approved even after the Biden administration attempted a “full-scale pressure campaign” in a bid to convince OPEC+ not to slash output , CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.