Oil tumbles 4% as OPEC+ meeting delayed
ReutersDec 03, 2023
The Facts
West Texas Intermediate, the US crude oil benchmark, declined 4.07% on Wednesday to settle at $69.38 a barrel — the lowest level in five months. Meanwhile, retail prices hit $3.22 a gallon, the lowest since Jan. 3.
Future prices for the benchmark traded about 90 cents higher for deliveries scheduled next July, compared to oil set to be delivered in January 2024, reportedly owing to concerns that the market is oversupplied due to US crude oil production reaching near record-highs.
The Spin
Republican narrative
The Biden administration has consistently released millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a short-sighted bid to reduce prices at the pump in the near term, leaving the country vulnerable to potential energy threats. A true American leader would be focused on ramping up oil output capabilities, especially while prices remain high now and OPEC+ cuts some production.
Democratic narrative
Though one may not expect Biden to boast that his administration has achieved record levels of American oil production — currently the world's highest — as he has sought to strike a fine balance between energy and climate change, it's a matter of fact that the measures he has taken to help American families have successfully forced down gas prices.