VIENNA—The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies agreed on Wednesday to slash output by 2 million barrels of oil a day, delegates said, a move likely to push up already-high global energy prices and help oil-exporting Russia pay for its war in Ukraine.
The move drew an immediate rebuke from the White House, which called the decision shortsighted and suggested the 23-member group collectively known as OPEC+ was actively supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin. It came less than three months after President Biden visited Saudi Arabia, the OPEC’s de facto leader, in a bid to repair relations between the world’s biggest oil consumer and its biggest crude-oil exporter during a period of rising inflation driven in part by high energy prices.
