The leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates declined the White House’s requests to speak with President Biden about rising oil prices, according to a report Wednesday.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE’s Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan turned down the opportunity to speak with Mr. Biden, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. and Middle East officials.
“There was some expectation of a phone call, but it didn’t happen,” a U.S. official told the Journal of the planned discussion between Prince Mohammed and Mr. Biden. “It was part of turning on the spigot [of Saudi oil].”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
The report comes as the Biden administration needs Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries to ramp up their supplies after banning Russian oil imports on Tuesday. The ban sent the price of oil to $130 a barrel, the highest level in 14 years.
Last week OPEC+, which includes Russia, declined to increase overall oil production, despite pleas from Western countries.
Last week, the U.S. opened diplomatic ties with Venezuela, a Russian ally and holder of the world’s largest oil reserves. On Tuesday, Venezuela released two Americans from prison in a bid to improve relations with the U.S.
However, relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated under the Biden administration. Saudi Arabia wants more U.S. support for its intervention in Yemen’s civil war, its own nuclear program and legal protection for Prince Mohammed, who faces several U.S. lawsuits over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Mr. Biden spoke with Prince Mohammed’s 86-year-old father in February. Reports surfaced last week that Mr. Biden was weighing a trip to Saudi Arabia, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president has no plans to visit the kingdom.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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