Washington
\nUnited States President Joe Biden and King Salman of Saudi Arabia discussed energy supplies in the face of soaring fuel prices and developments in the Middle East, including Iran and Yemen, in a telephone call on Wednesday.
\n\u201cThe two leaders committed to ensuring the stability of global energy supplies,\u201d the White House said in a statement.
\nSalman, head of the largest crude exporter in the Opec oil production group, spoke about maintaining balance and stability in the petroleum markets, Saudi state news agency SPA said.
\nHe emphasised the need to maintain the supply agreement Opec has with its allies including Russia, a group known as Opec+.
\nLast week, Opec+ agreed to stick to moderate rises in its oil output, with the group struggling to meet existing targets and wary of responding to calls on its strained capacity for more crude from top consumers to cap surging prices.
\nGlobal crude prices, which have rallied about 20 per cent this year, are likely to surpass $100 a barrel because of a weaker-than- expected hit to demand from the Omicron variant of coronavirus, analysts have said.
\nInternational Brent oil settled nearly 1pc higher, at $91.55 a barrel, on Wednesday.
\nHigh oil prices are a risk to the Biden administration ahead of November\u2019s congressional elections in which his fellow Democrats will defend slim majorities in the Senate and US House of Representatives.
\nLast year, the administration attempted to push down oil prices by organising a drawdown of emergency oil reserves in concert with large consumers in Asia, including China, but prices chilled only temporarily.
\nA US source familiar with the call said, \u201cSaudi Arabia has historically played a vital role in ensuring global energy markets are well supplied to support strong and resilient economies.
\n\u201cThe president noted that it is especially important now, during this time of geopolitical instability and global recovery,\u201d said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
\nOil has also been supported by the tension in Ukraine as Russia has put more than 100,000 troops on its borders.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week the administration has been in coordination with allies and partners including on \u201chow best to share energy reserves in the event that Russia turns off the spigot, or initiates a conflict that disrupts the flow of gas through Ukraine\u201d.
\nThat was an apparent reference to both the potential of oil and natural gas cutoffs in the aftermath of any invasion by Moscow.
\nThe White House said that on the call, Biden also repeated the commitment of the United States to support Saudi Arabia in defending itself against attacks by Yemen\u2019s Houthi group.
\nBiden also briefed Salman on international talks to \u201cre-establish constraints on Iran\u2019s nuclear programme,\u201d the White House said.
\nThe conflict in Yemen is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, who ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
\nSalman told Biden that Saudi Arabia wanted there to be a \u201cpolitical resolution\u201d in Yemen, SPA said.
\nBiden\u2019s last call with Salman was reported about a year ago around the time of the release of a US assessment that said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king\u2019s son, approved an operation to capture or kill murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington United States President Joe Biden and King Salman of Saudi Arabia discussed energy supplies in the face of soaring fuel prices and developments in the Middle East, including Iran and Yemen, in a telephone call on Wednesday. \u201cThe two leaders committed to ensuring the stability of global energy supplies,\u201d the White House said in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3946,1227,503,3945,3947],"class_list":{"0":"post-243750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-energy-supplies","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-joe-biden","11":"tag-saudi-king","12":"tag-yemen"},"yoast_head":"\n