US President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again accused the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of raising crude oil prices and demanded a reversal.
"The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gasoline prices have risen & done little to help. If it does, it is raising prices, and the US is protecting many of its members for very little $. This road must have two directions. "REDUCE THE PRICES NOW!", The Republican wrote on his account on the social networking site Twitter.
The tycoon has repeatedly spoken out against OPEC in recent weeks. Rising fuel prices could be a major political headache for Trump in the run-up to the November midterm elections, undermining Republicans' argument that tax cuts and the removal of regulatory restrictions promoted by his administration helped boost the US economy.
On Saturday, Trump claimed that the King of Saudi Arabia "agreed" to increase oil production by up to 2 million barrels per day, making a claim that the White House needed to correct in a statement later.
The monarch of Saudi Arabia, the most important member of OPEC, reportedly assured Trump that the kingdom could increase its production if it needed to and that it had an additional production capacity of up to 2 million barrels a day that it could use if it was. necessary to offset a possible decline in production in Venezuela and Iran.
Trump is stepping up pressure on OPEC at a time when Washington is urging Europeans to stop buying oil from the Islamic Republic.