With selfish agenda, Biden achieves limited goals on 1st Mideast trip as US president

NO IMMEDIATE SAUDI ACTION ON OIL OUTPUT

On Friday afternoon, Biden flew to Jeddah, a coastal city of Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

On Saturday, the US president also took part in a summit meeting with leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

One of the major goals of Biden's controversial visit to Saudi Arabia is to persuade the kingdom to sharply increase oil production to stabilize the energy market impacted by the Ukraine crisis as well as the US and its allies' sanctions on Russia.

Pressured by the rising inflation and a continued slide of his approval ratings back home, Biden tries to lower the oil prices by seeking help from oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi crown prince, who traded barbs with Biden over the human rights issue at their meeting, indicated at the summit that the kingdom will increase oil production to 13 million barrels per day at most, warning that "unrealistic energy policies would lead to higher inflation."

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that "OPEC+ would continue to assess market conditions and do what is necessary."

The OPEC+, the group of oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia, will meet on Aug. 3.

In fact, the kingdom's real GDP grew by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2022, largely thanks to the sustained rally in oil prices, according to official data.