WH’s Hochstein: I Didn’t Think We’d Have This OPEC Cut after Meeting with Saudis Two Weeks Ago

During an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Special Presidential Coordinator for Energy Security Amos Hochstein said that he did not leave his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman around two weeks ago where energy was one of the topics that came up with the understanding that there would be the massive production cut by OPEC+.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Annmarie Hordern asked, “Amos, I went to get a little bit into how we got here. You were in Saudi Arabia, with the White House’s Brett McGurk…just less than two weeks ago. You met with the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Did you walk away from that meeting thinking we’d be here today with OPEC+ cutting two million barrels off the market?”

Hochstein responded, “No, I did — I’m not going to go into the details of our conversation.”

Hordern then cut in to ask, “But no, you did not think there would be this big of a cut?”

Hochstein answered, “No, I did not.”

He added, “Energy was one of the topics we discussed, and what I can tell you is I did not walk away with that understanding. But that was two weeks ago.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett