The White House said on Friday that Saudi Arabia has committed to increasing oil production in July and August – a move that will help “significantly stabilize markets”. The commitment from Saudi Arabia came after bilateral meetings between President Biden and administration officials and King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Said and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as Saudi ministers. “Saudi Arabia is committed to supporting the rebalancing of the global oil market for sustained economic growth,” the White House said. “We welcomed an increase in production levels of 50 percent above what was planned for July and August.” “These steps and the further steps we expect in the coming weeks have and will help stabilize markets significantly,” the White House said. BIDEN ARRIVES IN SAUDI ARABIA, WILL DISCUSS HUMAN RIGHTS, ‘ENERGY SECURITY,’ OFFICIALS SAY Also at the meetings, the White House said Biden welcomed the conclusion of a bilateral Clean Energy Cooperation Framework, with new Saudi investments to “accelerate the energy transition and combat the impacts of climate change.” The White House said the framework “focuses particularly on solar, green hydrogen, nuclear and other clean energy initiatives.” “Building on existing collaboration between energy experts in our countries, we seek to strengthen our efforts to address climate change and promote greater use of clean energy resources around the world,” the White House said, noting that the partnership “will leverage public and private sector collaboration to advance the development of clean energy solutions, while accelerating the research, development and demonstration of innovative technologies needed to decarbonize the global economy and achieve net zero emissions.” For weeks, the White House has stressed that oil production is “not the focus” of Biden’s talks with officials in Saudi Arabia. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel and its enlarged group of allied producers known as OPEC+ agreed last month to increase oil output this summer months of resistance amid soaring global energy prices. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday referred to that announcement, saying it would be discussed during meetings in Saudi Arabia. “We are optimistic that we will see additional actions from OPEC+ in the coming weeks.” WHITE HOUSE SAYS OIL PRODUCTION ‘NOT FOCUS’ IN SAUDI ARABIA TALKS Also at the meeting, Biden and Saudi officials signed bilateral agreements on cyber security—one with the FBI and one with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The agreement was made in an effort to expand the existing bilateral relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia to share information about cyber threats and malicious actor activities and to strengthen our nations’ common defense. The White House also announced that Saudi Arabia has pledged to extend and strengthen the UN-brokered ceasefire in Yemen, which has led to 15 weeks of peace in the region. The support included a commitment to provide more than $1 billion for development projects and fuel support. Biden also reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to helping Saudi Arabia protect and defend its territory and people from “all external attacks, particularly those launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.” WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS US-SAUDI ‘STRATEGIC’ COOPERATION AFTER BIDEN VOWS TO MAKE COUNTRY A ‘PARIA’ STATE Biden and Saudi leaders also discussed opening Saudi airspace to civilian aircraft flying to and from Israel. collaboration on space exploration; and collaboration on public health efforts. Brooke Singman is a political reporter for Fox News Digital. She can be reached at [email protected] or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.
