FERRO: “You say it’s a prudent use of the asset. Other people are very worried about this. You’ve drained the SPR to its lowest level in four decades. There’s some accusation that you’re using — you’re putting the polls before America’s energy security. Brian, the Saudis themselves said this morning, that the U.S. requested a one month delay to the OPEC+ output. I wonder why that would be? Brian, can you tell me whether you did ask the Saudis for a one month delay to that decision? Are they telling the truth?”

DEESE: “Look, we clearly — we clearly communicated our views to OPEC members that we thought it was short sighted to for them to take the action that they were contemplating and they announced. With respect to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, this was a calibrated decision to address the real issues in the market. We talked to U.S. industry last winter, we identified that there was about a million barrel a day gap between what they were producing this winter and what they said that they could get production to by late this fall. That million barrel gap was what we calibrated to make the decision on the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And people should feel confident that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to be an asset that we can deploy to address our economic and national security needs. That’s always what has dictated the president’s decision making on this and that’s what will dictate his decision making on this going forward.”

FERRO: “Brian, you didn’t answer the question, so I’m going to ask it again. I’m going to share with you and share with our audience the quote from the Saudis this morning. ‘The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would like to clarify the base on its belief and the importance of dialogue and exchange of views with its allies and partners outside of OPEC+ regarding the situation in the oil markets. The government of the kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the U.S. administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences. Brian, again, it’s a really straight question. Did you ask the Saudis to delay that decision for a month? Are they telling the truth or not?”

DEESE: “Look, I’m not going to — I’m not going to get on — on air and disclose private conversations that members of our administration had with counterparts —“ [crosstalk]

FERRO: “But it’s not private. The Saudis has shared it with us. He’s got the opportunity to say it’s true or not. Is it true or not?”

DEESE: “What I will say — what I will say — what I will say clearly is that the communications that we’ve had with OPEC members and continuing have been based on our assessment of the economic circumstances of supply and demand in global oil markets.”