Authoritarians know their American allies when they see them

Wow, what an amazing coincidence that OPEC may turn the spigots back on now that the midterms are over:

OPEC oil producers are discussing an output increase, the group’s delegates said, a move that could help heal a rift between Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration and keep energy flowing amid new attempts to blunt Russia’s oil industry over the Ukraine war.

A production increase of up to 500,000 barrels a day is now under discussion for OPEC+’s Dec. 4 meeting, delegates said. The move would come a day before the European Union is set to impose an embargo on Russian oil and the Group of Seven wealthy nations’ plans to launch a price cap on Russian crude sales, potentially taking Moscow’s petroleum supplies off the market. 

After The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations reported on the discussions Monday, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman denied the reports and said a production cut was possible instead.

Any output increase would mark a partial reversal of a controversial decision last month to cut production by 2 million barrels a day at the most recent meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their Russia-led allies, a group known collectively as OPEC+. 

I wonder what event in November might have cause the Saudis to want oil prices to go up, and which is no longer material? This is a mystery that might never be solved.

Remember in 2016 when a popular media line was that Russia was just intervening to cause “chaos” and not to try to get Trump elected, even thought all of their interventions were strategically designed to maximize positive effects for Trump’s campaign? Jesus, that was stupid.