US President Joe Biden and King Salman of Saudi Arabia discussed energy supplies and developments in the Middle East, including in Iran and Yemen, during a phone call on Wednesday (Feb 9).
“The two leaders committed to ensuring the stability of global energy supplies”, the White House said in a statement.
Salman also spoke about maintaining balance and stability in the oil markets and emphasised on the need to maintain the OPEC+ supply agreement, state news agency SPA said.
OPEC+ agreed last week to stick to moderate rises in its oil output with the group struggling to meet existing targets and wary of responding to calls on its strained capacity for more crude from top consumers to cap surging prices.
Global crude prices, which have rallied about 20 per cent this year, are likely to surpass US$100 a barrel because of strong demand and a weaker than expected hit to demand from the Omicron coronavirus variant, analysts have said. International Brent oil settled nearly 1 per cent higher to US$91.55 a barrel on Wednesday.
High oil prices are a risk to the Biden administration ahead of congressional elections in November in which his fellow Democrats will defend slim majorities in the Senate and US House of Representatives.
The administration attempted to push down oil prices late last year by organising a drawdown of emergency oil reserves in concert with large consumers in Asia, including China, but prices chilled only temporarily.
Oil has also been supported by the tension in Ukraine as Russia has put more than 100,000 troops on its borders.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week the administration has been in coordination with allies and partners including on “how best to share energy reserves in the event that Russia turns off the spigot, or initiates a conflict that disrupts the flow of gas through Ukraine”.
That was an apparent reference to both the potential of oil and natural gas cutoffs in the aftermath of any invasion by Moscow.
The White House said that on the call, Biden also repeated the commitment of the United States to support Saudi Arabia in defending itself against attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, the White House said.
Biden also briefed Salman on international talks to “re-establish constraints on Iran’s nuclear programme”, the White House said.
The conflict in Yemen is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, who ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
Salman told Biden that Saudi Arabia wanted there to be a “political resolution” in Yemen, SPA said.
Biden’s last call with Salman was reported about a year ago around the time of the release of a US assessment that said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king’s son, approved an operation to capture or kill murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
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