Biden likely to visit Saudi Arabia amid surging gas prices in the U.S.

• President Joe Biden is leaning towards making a visit to Saudi Arabia later this month as gas prices soar.
• Saudi Arabia had previously refused to increase its oil exports, but reports say the country has indicated to the West that it is prepared to boost its oil supply.
• During his 2016 campaign, Biden said that Saudi rulers would “pay the price” for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Prince Mohammed.

President Joe Biden is likely to visit Saudi Arabia later this month as prices of gas continue to soar. The trip is reportedly part of an international trip for NATO and Group of Seven meetings.

If the Middle East trip pushes through, Biden would meet its effective ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Biden points to Prince Mohammed for the murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia hasn’t been finalized, people familiar with the matter said only that a Saudi Arabia trip was likely.

The president is expected to attend a NATO summit in Madrid and a G-7 meeting in Munich at the end of the month. Biden is expected to attend a NATO summit in Madrid and a G-7 meeting in Munich at the end of the month.

Early in his presidency, the White House said Biden would deal directly only with Saudi Arabia’s official head of state, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

However, there’s a call on Biden to meet with Bin Salman as prices of gasoline in the U.S. have spiraled to record highs during his presidency. The president has already threatened federal price-gouging probes and ordered a record release of oil from US reserves to try to cut prices at gasoline pumps, to little effect.

Though Saudi Arabia had previously refused to increase its oil exports, reports say the country has indicated to the West that it is prepared to boost its oil supply.

The FT report, citing people familiar with the talks, said Saudi Arabia may boost oil output should Russia’s production fall substantially due to sanctions following its war in Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia had warned that the energy crisis could get even worse later this year that’s why it needed to keep spare production capacity in reserve. The White House has said that world demand for crude is rebounding far faster than anticipated after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul deeply damaged relations between the US government and Saudi Arabia. Biden’s administration released a declassified report pointing to the crown prince for the murder.

Bin Salman has denied any involvement but accepts responsibility for the killing as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.

Source: Yahoo! News