STATEMENT: Carla Sands on OPEC’s Decision to Reduce Global Oil Production and the Fragility of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

June 05, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) released the following statement from Carla Sands, Vice Chair of the Center for Energy & Environment at AFPI, regarding the decision by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce global oil production and the ongoing fragility of the strategic petroleum reserve.

“OPEC's decision over the weekend to reduce global oil production illustrates the Biden Administration's egregious mismanagement of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Simultaneously restraining domestic energy production and draining the nation's emergency energy reserves ahead of the 2022 midterm elections was unnecessary and reckless. Now, as oil prices climb, the American people will be forced to pay even more to refill the SPR, which sits at its lowest level since September 1983. In the meantime, our country remains dangerously ill-prepared for a real energy crisis.

The Biden Administration needs to support our national and economic security by prioritizing greater energy production at home.”

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