PressTV-Trump calls Saudi king to talk about the oil market

US President Donald Trump has called on the leader of Saudi Arabia to discuss the "stability of the oil market" and "developments in the Middle East region and the world," reported several months after the severe condemnation of OPEC by Trump. Oil price.

According to a report released Saturday by a daily newspaper based in Riyadh Arab news Trump and King Salman bin Abdulaziz also discussed mutual ties and "ways to develop" their strategic partnership, efforts to "maintain the supply and stability of the oil market" and "ensure the growth of the global economy" .

The reports, however, did not detail the discussions between US leaders and the main member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the world's largest oil exporter.

It was then that the White House only stated that Trump and the Saudi despot had been discussing "issues of regional interest" without providing details, according to US press reports.

The development took place a few days after the US President took advantage of his speech at the opening day of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly to reaffirm that it was not necessary for him to speak out. was not satisfied with the prices of OPEC and the Middle East countries. fuel price while enjoying a US military protection.

"The OPEC and OPEC countries are, as usual, tearing the rest of the world apart, and I do not like it; Nobody should like that, "Trump said in a sharp, non-diplomatic critique of the organization on Wednesday, insisting that" we want them to stop raising prices. We want them to start lowering prices and that they must contribute substantially to military protection from now on. "

"The United States is ready to export our abundant affordable supply of oil, clean coal and natural gas," he added.

Trump's remarks to the world organization were made after OPEC oil ministers ignored his demand to lower oil prices and offset the shortage expected due to US efforts to impose an international boycott Iranian exports.

At its last meeting, the group – along with OPEC's largest non-OPEC producer, Russia – rejected Trump's call to cut crude oil prices last week, ruling out any further increases in oil prices. oil production.

Trump's demand for the abolition of oil prices followed his unilateral decision to leave an international nuclear deal with Iran and impose new sanctions on the country, resulting in soaring international crude oil prices at levels never reached since 2014.

"We are protecting the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for long without us, and yet they continue to push for oil prices to rise more and more! We will remember!" Said Trump on Twitter last week.

His claim comes after the benchmark oil hit $ 80 a barrel this month, despite his previous assurances that US efforts to impose global sanctions on Iranian oil exports would not affect the market . US polls on November 6th.

The US president wants to enact his second round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic on November 4, targeting the country's oil and gas exports and promising to reduce Tehran's oil exports to zero.

At the same time, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani insisted last week that Tehran could resist new US economic sanctions and dismissed Washington's threats to smother Iran's oil exports as a "promise". l & # 39; air. "

"The United States is not able to zero oil exports," he told NBC News in New York on Monday.

"It's an empty threat of credibility, and maybe we'll continue to push this way, but the United States will certainly not achieve its goal," he added.

That's when US hedge funds watch Trump's persistent dialogue with the Saudi kingdom for any sign that Washington could take action against its main Arab ally or other US-sponsored OPEC members in the US. Persian Gulf. He has repeatedly suggested that oil-rich kingdoms can not survive without the protection of the US military.

The Arab kingdoms spend billions every year to buy and maintain vast quantities of weapons manufactured in the United States.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, reached Friday its highest level in four years, to more than $ 83, as the market prepares for the potential impact of Washington's energy sanctions against Iran.

Gasoline pump prices are also rising in the US, pushing consumers just weeks before the crucial midterm elections that could prove very costly for the ruling Republican party and Trump's presidency .