‘US has tools to respond to OPEC+ withholding oil supply’

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that his administration has ways to deal with high oil prices after OPEC and its allies rebuffed US pleas for the producers to pump more crude.

“There are other tools in the arsenal that we have to deal with other countries at an appropriate time,” Biden said when asked by a reporter at the White House whether he would authorize a sale from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

OPEC+, a group of producers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and other countries, on Thursday snubbed US pleas to go beyond a previous plan to raise oil output by 400,000 barrels per day from December.

Oil prices have hit over $80 a barrel, raising fuel prices for consumers.

“I’m not anticipating that OPEC would respond, that Russia and/or Saudi Arabia would respond,” Biden said. “They are going to pump some more oil. Whether they pump enough oil is a different thing.”

Biden said his administration will discuss the issue.

“We can get more energy in the pipeline figuratively and literally speaking,” he said.