President Joe Biden once again fist bumped his way through Saudi Arabia to beg for more oil production. On the final leg of his four day trip, Biden gave it one last push in an attempt to bring down gas prices, despite ignoring the fact that America can be energy independent without the help of Saudi.
Biden reassured that the U.S. “will not walk away” from its Middle East partnership, committing to work with the country’s leaders as Saudi Arabia just announced it will increase its oil production.
“The U.S. is going to remain an active partner in the Middle East as the world grows more competitive,” Biden told reporters, adding “We will seek to build on this moment with active, principled, American leadership.”
“It’s only becoming clearer to me how closely woven America’s interests are with successes in the Middle East. We will not walk away to leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Biden said while speaking in Jeddah.
This comes after Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman announced that Saudi Arabia would increase oil production from about 10 million barrels a day to roughly 13 million barrels a day.
However, the White House emphasized that it does not expect the oil production to happen overnight, but rather in the next coming months.
Hours before the Crown Prince upped Saudi’s oil production, he stood firm that the Middle East is almost tapped out on increasing oil, previously saying that they will not have the capacity to produce beyond 13 million barrels a day.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La) questioned why the U.S. needs to rely on Saudi oil in the first place.
What makes Pres. Biden think that Saudi oil is cleaner than American oil?
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) July 13, 2022