Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement after Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ states announced plans to increase oil production and output.

“While OPEC+’s decision to speed up the release of oil production it has been willfully holding back is a positive step, I firmly believe the United States should never have to depend on other nations to provide the energy we can produce ourselves. America is blessed with abundant natural resources, and it is past time for us to step up the energy production we, and our allies and friends across the free world, need and rely on. We can and should also be leading the world in developing and deploying technologies to extract and use these products in the cleanest way possible to help decarbonize and protect the environment.”

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