Twitter Influencers Suggest Prioritizing US Domestic Oil Production Amid OPEC Production Cut

The OPEC and Non-OPEC members (OPEC+) concluded to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day at the meeting on 5 October 2022. The production cut, which will be implemented from November 2022, is aimed at halting the oil price slide. However, the move has drawn a rebuke from the US, as the deepest production cut since 2020 will create supply disruption and could lead to rise in oil prices. In line with this, a spike in Twitter Influencers’ conversations was noticed around ‘OPEC’ during the first week of October, reveals the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Twitter Influencers are of an opinion that the OPEC decision to slash oil production will raise oil prices further. A few of them also suggest that the move will not only damage the Western’s price cap decision on Russian oil and gas supplies but may also hit the global economy with a further rise in inflation.

On the US decision to release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to control prices, some influencers suggested that the US should rather boost the domestic oil production instead of releasing from the reserve to ensure energy security.”

Below are a few popular influencer opinions captured by GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:

1. Michael Shellenberger, President at Environmental Progress, has suggested that the US should have focused on increasing domestic production rather than pleading OPEC on maintaining or increasing production
2. Daniel Lacalle, Chief Economist at Tressis says that the shale production in the US is likely to rise following the OPEC decision
3. Andy Puzder, CEO at CKE Restaurants, Inc says that the US should focus on production rather than releasing SPR.
4. Hamza Shaban, Business Reporter at The Washington Post, has opined that OPEC production cut will not only drive energy prices and inflation higher but also help Russia to finance the war. A fallout of democrats can be expected in the midterm election in the US.
5. Dr. Maria Shagina, Research Fellow for Economic Sanctions, IISC, has said the OPEC’S decision to cut production is an asymmetrical and politicized response as this will damage the Western’s plan to cut Russia’s revenue.
6. Armine Yalnizyan, an Economist expects the massive cut in production will lead oil prices to rise as a production cut of 2 million barrels per day is equivalent to 2% of production.
7. Heather Long, Economic Columnist at Washington Post is expecting gas prices to rise high other than undercut efforts to help Ukraine.