Cheney and Saudis: No short-term fix for oil prices

A senior administration official said no breakthroughs on short-term relief for tight energy markets had come out of Cheney’s meetings with King Abdullah.

“There was a lot of commonality in their assessment about the structural problems confronted by the global energy market now, and some discussion of probably the way forward, how we work together to try and stabilize the market and what can be done, what could be done shorter term,” the official said, “but probably more about what’s necessary to do over the medium to longer term.”
Those longer-term solutions include more investment in new oil production,, as Saudi Arabia has been doing. Asked about the longer-term solutions, the official said: “I’m sure they mentioned the kinds of commitments the king made” when he met with the vice president in Dallas in 2005.

Then, the Saudis had laid out a five to six program near fulfillment, the official said, including “billions of dollars in Saudi investment into increasing capacity.”

“The U.S. believes there ought to be a lot more investment in our own production capabilities,’’ this official said – pointing to places such as the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, as well as offshore along the east, west and Gulf coasts.

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