On 10/26/2022, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich asked National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, “John, the Saudis took a veiled shot at the administration for selling the country’s emergency oil reserves and said that that decision may become a painful one in the next few months. Is there any indication that they plan to further cut production?”

MR. KIRBY: I’d have to refer you to them, Jacqui. I don’t have insight into what — you know, what their future decisions will or won’t be. We did propose that they not make a decision right now and wait until the next scheduled meeting, which was very early next month. So we’ll see what they end up doing at this next — at this next meeting.

Heinrich: Do you feel that the administration has sufficient insight into what foreign governments are going to do, given the reporting that the U.S. thought that there was a deal to boost production through the end of the year, that the decision from the Saudis and OPEC+ came as a surprise and caused a bit of a meltdown in the West Wing? And your answer just now saying that, you know, don’t have insight into what they might be doing, is that at all a failure of our diplomacy or foreign policy?

MR. KIRBY: No. I mean, there’s a lot there. First of all, we didn’t have a meltdown. Secondly, while we don’t — we can’t predict perfectly what OPEC+ is going to decide to do, the — we’re not part of that cartel. It’s not like we don’t have ongoing discussions with the Saudis and with other members of OPEC; we do. And we try to get the best information we can …

Heinrich: What are we doing to increase the supply of diesel, given that the Energy Information Administration said, as of October 14th, the U.S. only had about a 25-day supply? You have the northeast and New York already rationing home heating oil. What are we doing to prepare for the winter and to ramp up the supply of diesel?

MR. KIRBY: I’ll take the question on the diesel, because I just don’t have the data on that in front of me. So let me take that, and we’ll get back to you on that.

Reporter: I wanted to ask you about Saudi oil production. Over the summer, did the U.S. strike a deal with Saudi Arabia to boost oil production?

MR. KIRBY: Look, there was — we talked about it before the trip, that — that energy security was going to be something the President talked about when we went; that we were having conversations with Saudi Arabia before the trip about better balancing supply and demand … What I would tell you is — I’ve seen the press reporting on this. There were discussions before the trip, obviously, about a better balance of supply and demand to stabilize the energy market. Of course, there was. And we talked about that openly. But this recent decision by OPEC+ to now cut the these 2 million barrels certainly isn’t — not — and Karine said this a gazillion times — it’s not in keeping with the — with what we believe was the actual mathematical analysis of what needed to be done

https://facebook.com/HygoNewsUSA/videos/486205583464831/
Sell oil reserves? WH: We did propose OPEC cut wait after Midterm; only 25-day diesel supply