Cheney talks oil, security with Saudi king

PetoleumTimes: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - High oil prices squeezing US consumers were seen as a key topic of Vice President Dick Cheney's talks yesterday with Saudi King Abdullah.

PetoleumTimes: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - High oil prices squeezing US consumers were seen as a key topic of Vice President Dick Cheney's talks yesterday with Saudi King Abdullah.
more stories like this

    * VP, Saudis to talk about oil security
    * Cheney, Saudis to discuss oil crisis
    * Cheney and Saudi king to hold oil talks: U.S. official
    * Oil drops below $100
    * Cheney to Mideast with "rich agenda" on oil, peace
*

Aides said oil was among the items on a long list of topics for the two-day meeting. Other subjects include Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and protecting infrastructure against terror attacks, as well as the vice president's visits this week to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cheney was met at King Khaled International Airport yesterday by Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister. The two shared tea inside the airport before heading to the king's horse farm on the outskirts of Riyadh.

Cheney and Abdullah were expected to look at what consuming and producing nations can do to stabilize the oil market, both in the short and long term, but it was not clear whether Cheney would ask the Saudis to increase production.

During his trip to Saudi Arabia in January, President Bush urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production, saying it was a mistake to have the economies of its largest customers slowing down as a result of higher energy prices.

After the oil-producing nations denied the request, the White House said those nations could also be hurt by gas prices that are more than $3 a gallon.

In Iraq on Monday, Cheney said there currently is very little spare capacity in the global oil market. He said the declining value of the US dollar was putting upward pressure on oil prices as well as increasing demand for oil in China, India, and in the oil producing nations themselves.

"You've got a situation in which we've seen the price of oil rise fairly dramatically in recent months, up now to over $100 a barrel," Cheney said. "But it reflects primarily the realities in the marketplace."

Cheney is traveling with his wife, Lynne, and daughter, Liz. At the king's retreat, the vice president was given a King Abdul-Aziz green sash and certificate, the highest honor awarded to a deputy head of state.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg