Oil prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine and hit their highest levels since 2008 but have pulled back a bit with hopes that some oil producing countries may act to increase supply. Fears about escalating bans on Russian oil persist, so the U.S. is reaching out to the largest producer in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has profited in recent years from teaming with fellow top petroleum producer Russia to keep global oil and natural gas supply modest and prices high. President Joe Biden came to office vowing to isolate the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and the rest of the Saudi royal family over human rights abuses, including the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Reports indicate Biden and Prince Mohammed have never spoken.
“I don’t know whether he’s up to eating that much crow,” Saudi Arabia analyst David Ottaway said of attempts now by Biden to improve his administration’s relations with Prince Mohammed and Saudi Arabia, the country that could most easily end the global oil supply crunch. “He was gonna make a pariah of this guy.”
Notably, Saudi Arabia has been involved in a civil war in Yemen since 2015, fighting against the Houthis who overran the capital of Sanaa and ousted the government from power. Despite seven years of fighting, the Houthis remain in control of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen.
Yemen’s conflict has killed more than 150,000 people, both fighters and civilians, and spawned what the United Nations called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Many more have been internally displaced.
Around 13 million Yemenis are headed for starvation due to a protracted civil conflict and a lack of funding for humanitarian aid, the U.N. food agency has warned.
