Urges Trump to oppose any efforts by OPEC to expand oil market control, production cuts at the expense of consumers, national security

Boston (December 19, 2016) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, today denounced a call by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for the United States to join future deals to limit oil production. Last week, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo stated that there could be additional deals by OPEC to further limit oil production and that such future deals would be “incomplete” without U.S. participation. He further commented that “we do not live in a world of energy-independent nations.” In his letter, Senator Markey called on President-elect Donald Trump to reject these comments and pledge that the United States will not negotiate or collaborate with the oil cartel to manipulate oil markets. He also called on Trump to oppose any OPEC efforts to expand inclusion of non-OPEC nations in future agreements to limit or manipulate oil production.

“The suggestion that the United States should work with OPEC is deeply troubling. Higher oil prices might benefit oil producers but they do not benefit U.S. consumers or our economy,” writes the Senator in the letter to President-elect Trump. “The United States should seek to continue to decrease our reliance on oil from unstable and hostile regions of the world, not work with a cartel of foreign nations to artificially increase oil prices at the expense of U.S. consumers and our economy.”

A copy of Senator Markey’s letter can be found HERE.

Economists have outlined how each one-penny increase in gas prices translates into $1 billion a year in increased costs to consumers, and that each $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil can reduce the growth rate of the American economy by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points.