Joe Biden seeks to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil as prices soar
- US President Joe Biden is making his first visit to the Middle East this week, which will include a stop in Saudi Arabia
- Biden is struggling at home to bring down fuel prices that have contributed to a dip in his job approval rating
Joe Biden will make his first visit as US president to Saudi Arabia on Friday, where he will seek to persuade Riyadh to pump more oil to bring down prices that are fuelling inflation to the highest levels in decades.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have the capacity to take “further steps” to increase oil production despite suggestions from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that they can barely increase oil production.
“We will convey our general view … that we believe that there needs to be adequate supply in the global market to protect the global economy and to protect the American consumer at the pump,” Sullivan said on Monday.
Biden leaves Tuesday night on his first visit to the Middle East as president, with stops in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia on his agenda.
Prior to his election, Biden had vowed that Saudi should be a “pariah” state following the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in a recalibration of relations with the oil-producing country that is a kingpin of the OPEC oil cartel.
However, since then, key crude producer Russia had invaded Ukraine, propelling oil prices to levels last seen during the 2008 global financial crisis.