U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today released the following statement after the OPEC+ group, comprised of 23 member nations, collectively agreed to reduce their global oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day. The cuts will be made to limit global oversupply in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m glad the Saudis and Russians are taking a step back from their economic warfare against U.S. producers, and I thank President Trump and Secretary Brouillette for their leadership in reaching this agreement,” Murkowski said. “We can further protect our energy security by refilling our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and I encourage other nations around the world to take similar steps with their own emergency stockpiles. The millions of Americans employed in this industry should know that we will continue to support them as we seek to put the pandemic behind us and ultimately bring our economy back to full strength.”

On Saturday, April 11, Murkowski joined several of her colleagues, including Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., on a nearly two-hour call with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud. During the call, the Senators urged Saudi Arabia to finalize the deal to help stabilize global oil markets and reiterated that the Kingdom’s price war threatened its bilateral relationship with the US.