Biden to push for greater oil output from Opec during Saudi visit

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden will make the case for greater oil production from Opec nations to bring down petrol prices when he meets Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia this week, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Mr Biden was scheduled to leave last night on his first visit to the Middle East as president, with stops in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia on his agenda.

The trip comes as he struggles at home to bring down petrol prices that have contributed to a dip in his job approval ratings.

Mr Sullivan said members of Opec, or the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, have the capacity to take "further steps" to increase oil production despite suggestions from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that they can barely increase oil production.

"We will convey our general view... that we believe there needs to be adequate supply in the global market to protect the global economy and to protect the American consumer at the pump," he said.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the only Opec members with significant volumes of unused output. They currently have a buffer of about three million barrels a day, official data from the countries indicate.

That is about 3 per cent of global oil output, and roughly equivalent to the amount of Russian oil that could be kept off the market by sanctions at the year end, said the International Energy Agency.

But the margin of emergency supplies could be narrower than official figures indicate.

Experts say the White House understands that Saudi Arabia is unlikely to move unilaterally and that Riyadh and other Gulf nations lack significant spare capacity.

"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 senior fellow Ben Cahill at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The visit comes as Mr Biden faces criticism at home from human rights groups for plans to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader who the US intelligence community concluded was behind the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist and political opponent Jamal Khashoggi.

In a commentary published in The Washington Post late last Saturday, Mr Biden said his aim was to reorient and not rupture ties with a country that has been a US strategic partner for 80 years.

Mr Sullivan, briefing reporters at the White House, said Mr Biden has not expressed regret about previously referring to Saudi Arabia as a "pariah" over Mr Khashoggi's death. But he said one of Mr Biden's objectives on the trip will be "publicly and privately advocating universal values including progress on human rights and political reform".

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG