Bush in Saudi Arabia to press king on oil and Iran Posted on May 16th
in oil output on Friday after an appeal from visiting President
George W. Bush but the news did little to douse oil prices that
hit a new record earlier in the day.
On his second visit to the world’s biggest oil-exporter
this year, Bush renewed his appeal for more oil from OPEC amid
rising pressure at home to take action as record fuel prices
weigh on the U.S. economy.
Saudi Arabia said it had raised output by 3.3 percent last
week, and was willing and able to raise output further but saw
no customer demand.
“Customers, where are you? I want to sell oil but where are
the customers. I can’t sell oil just to be stored at sea,”
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news
conference.
Asked about Bush’s response, Prince Saud said: “He was
satisfied.”
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told U.S. officials that
increased output would not reduce costs at the pump for U.S.
motorists as soaring prices were mainly the result of a weak
dollar, speculation and tensions in oil-producing countries.
Since Bush’s last visit to Saudi Arabia in January, oil
prices have jumped some $30 to a new record near $128 a barrel
on Friday, adding to U.S. recession fears.
“Clearly the price of (gasoline) is too high for Americans
… We have not enough supply and too high demand. Trying to
get more supply out there is good for everyone,” White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said before the meeting.
“We have had sluggish growth; with lower oil prices we
could certainly have better growth.”
COMMON GROUND ON IRAN
The United States, the world’s largest energy consumer,
also reached agreements with Saudi Arabia to help it protect
its oil resources and assist it in developing peaceful nuclear
energy.
The announcement came as Bush ended a three-day trip to
Israel where he vowed to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Tehran says its program is peaceful but Bush said it would
be “unforgivable” if Iran were allowed to get the bomb.
U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the two
leaders believed “Iran, working directly and through Syria, was
very much behind what happened in Lebanon,” where Hezbollah has
routed fighters loyal to the government backed by Saudi Arabia
and the West.
They also discussed how to “confront Iran’s negative
actions and behavior and increase pressure on Iran.”
Prince Saud said the two leaders would focus on Middle East
peace in further talks on Friday, saying that Saudi Arabia was
still in favor of the creation of a Palestinian state.
He objected to Bush’s outspoken support for Israel during
his speech to the Israeli Knesset, in which the U.S. president
referred to the Israelis as “chosen people,” saying that the
Palestinians were entitled to rights as well.
“There are rights here and rights there. What is required
is equality in dealings … and not selectiveness in dealings”
Prince Saud said.
The two leaders are trying to improve ties that
deteriorated in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in
2001 and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
As part of the new oil security arrangements announced on
Friday, the White House said the two allies would conclude an
agreement for broader cooperation between the Saudi Interior
Ministry and the U.S. government.
Apart from agreements to cooperate on nuclear energy and
oil security, the White House said Saudi Arabia had agreed to
join two global initiatives — one to combat nuclear terrorism
and another to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
Bush travels on to Egypt at the weekend to meet Palestinian
leaders, and before then he will press the Saudis to do more to
support faltering U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace
talks. He wants to achieve a deal before he leaves office in
January, but the deadline is widely regarded as unrealistic.
(Additional reporting by Sohail Karam in Riyadh and Simon
Webb in Dubai, Writing by Lin Noueihed, Editing by Catherine
Evans)
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