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The White House has given up on asking Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, the WSJ reported.
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The US has been trying to get more Saudi oil since it banned Russian energy imports during the war in Ukraine.
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Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia are currently at a new low.
The White House has given up on asking Saudi Arabia to pump more oil after it was repeatedly rejected by the kingdom, The Wall Street Journal reported, the latest sign of a growing rift between the two nations.
The US banned imports of Russian oil and gas after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, pushing prices up at the pump. In turn, the US turned to Saudi Arabia to increase production and lower prices.
But the Saudis refused, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the de facto ruler of the kingdom – reportedly ignoring calls from President Joe Biden. Saudi Arabia and Russia are key members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil producers, which decided to slightly increase production in late March, despite global price increases.
A senior US official told The Journal that after the US gave up its efforts to get Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil production, the US began asking the Saudis not to do anything that would harm the West’s efforts in Ukraine.
The Journal report gave no further details, but Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries that have not condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with Crown Prince Mohammed recently offering to mediate peace talks.
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Saudi Arabia’s decision not to anger Russia rather than disappoint the US is significant and illustrates the growing rift between Biden and Crown Prince Mohammed.
A long-lasting alliance is being tested
The relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia has long been underpinned by the exchange of US weapons and security guarantees for access to Saudi oil. But that relationship is being tested.
Saudi Arabia is angry about Biden’s sideline of Crown Prince Mohammed, Biden’s harsh rhetoric about the country’s human rights and the US’s failure to guarantee their security after a series of attacks in the Arabian Peninsula led by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen .
In a clear demonstration of the US’s intentions to improve relations, the US hastily sent additional patriot anti-missile interceptors to Saudi Arabia last month just as the effects of the oil crisis in Russia began to bite, The Journal previously reported.
More than a year into his presidency, Biden has yet to have an official meeting with Saudi King Salman or Crown Prince Mohammed.
After the CIA concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed likely ordered the assassination of writer Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the White House actually demoted Crown Prince Mohammed to Secretary of Defense, one of the titles he holds, and marked his father King Salman as the equal of Biden.
In turn, Crown Prince Mohammed made clear his disdain for the Biden administration in an interview with The Atlantic magazine published last month, saying he didn’t care what the US president thought of him.
Shortly after Biden became president, Crown Prince Mohammed also reportedly yelled at White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan after the latter brought up Khashoggi in an informal meeting, The Journal reported.
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