US Moves To Help Gulf Nations Protect Energy Sites

A quiet, U.S. government campaign to boost anti-terrorism measures at major Middle East oil installations may be running into resistance from some Persian Gulf governments, who have long sought to distance themselves publicly from any direct American involvement in regional oil issues.

Last month, American officials met in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with government and oil-industry officials to discuss closer energy-security cooperation and to offer U.S. advice and expertise on how to better protect infrastructure like pipelines, processing plants and terminals.

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