Sullivan: Biden will advocate for higher oil production on the Mideast trip

• When he visits Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia this week, U.S. President Joe Biden will argue for more oil output from OPEC countries to lower gasoline prices, according to Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser.
• The trip occurs as Biden fights domestically to reduce petrol costs, which have lowered his job approval ratings.
• As Biden prepares to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler whom the U.S. intelligence community determined was responsible for the 2018 

When he visits Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia this week, U.S. President Joe Biden will argue for more oil output from OPEC countries to lower gasoline prices, according to Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser.

With stops planned in Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, Biden departs Tuesday night on his first trip to the region as president.

The trip occurs as Biden fights domestically to reduce petrol costs, which have lowered his job approval ratings.

In spite of claims from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that they can hardly raise oil production, Sullivan claimed that OPEX members had the ability to take “additional steps” to enhance 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 added.

The White House is aware that Saudi Arabia is unlikely to act unilaterally and that Riyadh and other Gulf countries lack a considerable amount of spare capacity, according to experts.

“I think that a surge in Saudi production seems unlikely. I expect some anodyne statements from Saudi Arabia about helping to balance the global oil market, meet global demand, support economic growth and stability among the import countries,” said Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

As Biden prepares to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler whom the U.S. intelligence community determined was responsible for the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist and political rival Jamal Khashoggi, Biden is under fire at home from human rights organizations.

In a piece that appeared in the Washington Post late on Saturday, Biden stated that he wanted to refocus rather than sever ties with a nation that had been a vital ally of the United States for 80 years.

Sullivan told reporters at the White House that Biden hasn’t apologized for calling Saudi Arabia a “pariah” in the past due to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

He did, however, state that one of Biden’s goals for the trip will be to “publicly and privately advocate for universal ideals, particularly progress on human rights and democratic change.”

On the trip, Iran is likely to come up in a region wary of Tehran’s influence. According to Sullivan, the US thinks Iran is getting ready to give Russia up to several hundred drones, some of which are armed, for use in its conflict with Ukraine.

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