US President Joe Biden have sent gas prices in America through the roof on Tuesday announcing that his country had banned all imports of Russia’s energy products, after which oil registered an unprecedented price of $4.17 per gallon.
The immediate ban is in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine and has strong support from American voters and lawmakers, but experts have already warned the move will drive up US energy prices.
However, it is more than obvious that Biden will need all the support he can get from other oil-rich countries to ensure additional oil production to sustain the US economy.
Washington has already started taking steps toward that goal several days ago when a US delegation visited Venezuela to discuss energy security and has also tried approaching Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to request that they pump more oil, but that was of no avail.
News emerged that the White House unsuccessfully tried to arrange calls between Biden and the de facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, after they have allegedly declined US requests.
A US official was cited as saying that there was some expectation of a phone call, part of turning on the spigot of Saudi oil, but it didn’t happen.
Although Riyadh has already officially “justified” itself saying it needs to coordinate production and costs with other members of the OPEC countries, it didn’t go unnoticed that both Saudi and UAE officials have their own accounts to square with the Americans and have been increasingly vocal in their criticism of American policy in the Gulf and the Middle East.
After he took office in 2021, Biden started re-examining the US ties to the Kingdom and the UAE over alleged human rights abuses, hampered the arms sale to the two nations, removed Houthis the Saudi-led coalition is fighting against fighting in Yemen from the list of terrorist organizations and have frustrated the UAE by slowing the pace of its deal to acquire US-made F-35s.
So, this was or another, any Saudi or UAE support the US might get will certainly come at a price.
However, it seems that Washington is probably ready to pay that price since, according to reports, the Biden administration has already sent a senior US National Security Council and State Department officials to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to directly plead the US case.
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