Saudi Arabia pushed other OPEC nations into an output cut last week, the White House claimed on Thursday, part of an escalating war of words between the two countries.
“More than one” OPEC member disagreed with Saudi Arabia’s push to cut production and felt coerced into the vote, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. He said he was not going to identify the members to let them speak for themselves.
The United States presented Saudi Arabia with an analysis showing there was no market basis to lower oil production before the OPEC decision to cut output, Kirby said in an earlier statement on Thursday, pushing against Riyadh’s claims the output cut was “purely economic.”
