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Biden Shields Saudi Prince in Khashoggi Legal Case
The Biden Admin has been trying to get back on Saudi Arabia’s good side for months. Will this latest move finally bring down oil prices?
U.S. President Joe Biden made his first blunder when he asked the Saudis to increase OPEC oil production back in July. It was a mistake Biden has been paying for ever since.
It was understandable at the time: U.S. gas prices during the summer of 2022 were red-hot and Biden’s Democratic Party was facing a very tough midterm.
But, as French President Emmanuel Macron warned Biden in June — a moment caught on a hot mic— the Saudis were already at max capacity and wouldn’t be able to increase output for at least another six months.
Had Biden not asked the Saudis to increase production, their subsequent cut in production wouldn’t have been a big deal. As things were, it made Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, not to mention his infamous fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, look like a colossal failure.
To save face, the Biden Administration subsequently announced it would be “reevaluating” the special relationship between the two nations.
But with U.S. strategic oil reserves depleted, Russia’s war in Ukraine dragging on, and diesel prices in the U.S. showing no signs of dropping, the Biden…