<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">President Joe Biden on Monday shrugged off a sharp output cut by Saudi-led OPEC+ oil producers, while the White House criticized the move but said it would be of limited impact on the US economy.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's not going to be as bad as you think," Biden told reporters while traveling in Minnesota to promote his economic record.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters "we don't think that production cuts are advisable at this moment, given market uncertainty."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United States "made that clear," he said, but added: "we're focused on moving ahead here."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A group of OPEC+ countries, led by longtime close US ally Saudi Arabia, announced a surprise cut of one million barrels a day in a bid to boost prices.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia, which is also part of OPEC+, said it was extending a previously announced unilateral cut of 500,000 barrels a day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kirby said the situation had improved since production cuts a year ago that angered the Biden administration, which was struggling at the time to stem a politically sensitive surge in fuel prices across the United States.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're also just in a different place in the market than we were last year," he said, noting that crude prices are at around $80 a barrel, compared to as much as $120 one year ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're focused on prices," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Asked about the troubled relationship with Saudi Arabia, Kirby said the country "is still a strategic partner" but "we don't always see eye to eye on everything."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kirby said that the latest production cuts were not sprung as a complete surprise to the US government. "We were given a heads up." AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>