The White House on Friday denounced what it called Opec's "anti-market" decision to cut petroleum production and underlined that high oil prices were a drag on the global economy. "It has always been our view that the value of commodities, including oil, should be determined in open, competitive markets, and not by these kinds of anti-market production decisions," said spokesman Tony Fratto.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Friday it would slash output by 1.5 million barrels per day from November 1 in an attempt to stabilise plunging oil prices, despite a looming world-wide recession. Analysts had expected Opec to cut its daily output by at least one million barrels per day as a global economic slowdown amid a worsening financial crisis slashes demand for energy.
The oil cartel's president Chakib Khelil said the production cut would not hurt the global economy - but the White House raised precisely those concerns, noting the impact of high energy costs over the past 12 months. "As we've long said, we want markets to be well supplied. The high oil prices from the past year contributed to the slowdown in demand and the subsequent downturn in the economy, and we would ask that everyone keep that in mind going forward," said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
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