The Kremlin hopes that the U.S. diplomacy will not seek to turn Saudi Arabia against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, commenting on U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East.
“We certainly hope that the building and the development of relations between Riyadh and other world capitals will in no way be directed against us,” Peskov was quoted as saying at a briefing on Wednesday by Russian news agency TASS.
“We highly appreciate the work we are doing with our partners, including leading partners such as Saudi Arabia,” Peskov said, asked to comment on President Biden’s visit to the Kingdom.
President Biden began on Wednesday a visit to the Middle East, which will include a stop in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter and a key partner of Russia in the OPEC+ oil production deal.
Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Russia have reiterated several times the importance of their OPEC+ partnership.
President Biden, for his part, will visit Saudi Arabia for the first time after making a U-turn in his attitude toward Riyadh as gasoline prices in America hit a record high of $5 per gallon last month.
OPEC has the capacity to raise crude oil production, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said earlier this week.
“We do believe there is a capacity for further steps that could be taken,” Sullivan said during a press briefing on Monday. Related: Is Biden Really Responsible For High Oil Prices?
President Biden and his team will make the case for higher OPEC oil production during meetings with leaders from the Gulf states in Saudi Arabia, Sullivan said at the briefing.
“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 said.
Analysts say that OPEC’s actual spare capacity could be less than official figures suggest and that, in fact, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—two producers believed to hold most of the world’s spare capacity—cannot pump too much crude oil above current levels for a sustainable period.
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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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1- Saudi Arabia recognizes that the World Order has already shifted from a unipolar system led by the United States since the collapse of the former Soviet Union to a multipolar one where the strategic alliance between China and Russia is on the ascendency. That is why Saudi Arabia has never condemned Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
2- Saudi Arabia values Russia’s cooperation within OPEC+. This cooperation has enabled both Saudi Arabia and Russia to acquire great influence over the global oil market and prices.
3- Because of its close relations with Iran, Russia could play an important role in paving the way for a future rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
4- A rift with Russia could affect Saudi relations with China, Russia’s closest strategic partner.
5- The Kingdom has come to the conclusion that the United States has been since the days of the Shah playing Iran and Saudi Arabia against each other in order to secure major arms deals. The Americans claim they are the defender of Saudi Arabia and its oil but they never came to its defence when Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthis, destroyed half of Saudi oil production capacity by their attack on Abquiq in September 2019.
6- The Saudis swallowed in the past slights from former President Trump who publicly told the Saudi royal family that they won’t stay in power for one week without US support and President Biden who said that he will treat Saudi Arabia as a pariah State and will never shake hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the young prince who could be king for many decades won’t take any more slights from the US and its presidents. He will make President Biden eat humble pie during his visit tomorrow to Riyadh by returning him home empty-handed.
7- The Saudis are aware that the United States wouldn’t think twice about reneging on any agreements it reaches with Saudi Arabia and others.
8- Biden’s green policies aim to undermine oil and gas and this harms Saudi national interests as the oil giant of the world. On the other hand, China and Russia are fully in line with Saudi oil policies.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London