The US government has described the decision by the oil alliance Opec plus to cut oil production as "short-sighted" and a "mistake".

President Joe Biden was disappointed, said Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and the director of the National Economic Council in the White House, Brian Deese.

At a time when maintaining global energy supplies is of paramount importance, this decision will have a particularly negative impact on low- and middle-income countries.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called the oil production cut "misguided" and a "mistake".

The oil alliance made a decision that only served their own interests.

"It is clear that with today's announcement, OPEC+ is allied with Russia," said Jean-Pierre.

Just before the congressional elections

In view of the planned supply shortage, Biden also wants to consult with Congress on additional tools and powers to reduce OPEC's control over energy prices, it said.

Recently, gasoline prices in the United States had fallen again somewhat.

For Biden's Democrats, that was especially important just before the congressional elections in November.

The high inflation in the country has particularly affected the party of the US President in surveys.

Russia was present at the meeting

Representatives of Opec, on the other hand, met again physically and not just virtually in Vienna on Wednesday for the first time since the pandemic.

Also present was Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

The result was a cut in oil production for the month of November by two million barrels (barrels of 159 liters) per day.

This is the sharpest production cut since spring 2020, when oil countries responded to the corona pandemic with a cut of 10 million barrels a day.

It remained somewhat unclear to what extent the fact that many oil states are currently producing less than the agreed quotas would actually allow them would affect the effect of the decision.

It was said that Russia would not have to make any cuts, that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq should mainly reduce production.

According to oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo, the "effective cuts" should be around 800,000 to 900,000 barrels a day.

At the beginning of September, the oil states had already decided to cut oil production by 100,000 barrels a day in October.

However, the effect on the oil price fizzled out again relatively quickly in view of recession worries.

"Last month's warning shot fell on deaf ears," commented Craig Erlam of trading platform Oanda.

But now the oil states are obviously getting serious.

The analysts at Commerzbank spoke of a "reaction to the sharp fall in prices in recent months".

The oil states were apparently not impressed by the United States' request to turn on the oil tap.

The oil price had risen noticeably at the beginning of the week as speculation about the plans of the oil states made the rounds.

On Wednesday it fluctuated, temporarily hitting $93.80 after the OPEC Plus meeting -- about $6 up from Friday.