Washington, D.C.—Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) President and CEO Robbie Diamond released the following statement in response to a reported production agreement at the OPEC meeting in Vienna.

“This week’s events in Vienna are a sad reminder of the behavior we have come to expect and accept from the clumsy, illegal cartel. With prices moving in the opposite direction, asking them to increase output is like trying to put a Band-Aid on a broken system that shouldn’t even exist in the first place. OPEC makes the rules up as it goes—promising cooperation and coordination and delivering an unfree, chaotic oil market instead. Consumers may be relieved in the short term by an agreement to increase output which will alleviate some price pressure going into the summer driving season, but let’s not forget that it was OPEC’s manipulation and disruption to the investment cycle which caused the current tightness in the oil market to begin with and we can expect bigger problems in the future.”

The U.S. is the world’s largest oil-consuming country, requiring 20 percent of global supply to meet its daily demand. Oil price volatility impacts all sectors of the U.S. economy, and when oil price spikes occur businesses and consumers have no alternatives available at scale.

To counter this vulnerability and insulate the U.S. economy from oil price shocks, SAFE advocates for a range of policies designed to reduce the country’s dependence. These include increasing domestic production, modernizing and strengthening fuel economy standards, adoption of advanced transportation fuels including electricity and natural gas, and the expeditious deployment of autonomous vehicles.

About Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE)

 Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) is an action-oriented, nonpartisan organization that aims to reduce America’s dependence on oil. Near-total dependence on petroleum in the transportation sector undermines the nation’s economic and national security, and constrains U.S. foreign policy. To combat these threats, SAFE advocates for expanded domestic production of U.S. oil and gas resources, continued improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, and the advancement of alternative fuels in the transportation sector including electric vehicles and natural gas trucks. In 2006, SAFE joined with General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, to form the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), a group of business and former military leaders committed to reducing the United States’ dependence on oil.

 # # #