White House calls OPEC action "short sighted"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday called OPEC's decision to cut production "short sighted" and said the oil cartel has an obligation to keep the market well supplied.

"It's not clear that OPEC's actions will be effective given the shift in global demand and the ability of OPEC members to meet the cartel's targets," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

"Regardless, OPEC has an obligation to keep the market well supplied and to consider the health of the global economy, so efforts to limit the benefits of lower energy prices are short sighted," he said.

OPEC oil ministers agreed Wednesday to cut 2.2 million barrels per day in oil production, the steepest output reduction in the cartel's history.

Separately, the head of the U.S. government's top energy forecasting agency said the impact of OPEC's production cut may be moderated by the actions of OPEC's members and other issues.

"I think the key factor is how much is actually cut, because 100 percent compliance is certainly not what the experience has been," Howard Gruenspecht, acting head of the Energy Information Administration, told reporters at an event unveiling the agency's long-term energy forecast.

"The other thing is what happens with the economy, which I think impacts demand in a big way," he added.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Christian Wiessner)