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US Republican senators from the oil states who recently introduced legislation to withdraw US troops from Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that they had spoken to three kingdom officials and urged them to take concrete steps to reduce oil production.
FILE PHOTO: An employee rides a bicycle alongside oil tanks at the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2019. REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov
WASHINGTON: United States Republican senators from the oil states who recently introduced legislation to withdraw US troops from Saudi Arabia said Saturday that they had spoken to three kingdom officials and urged them to take concrete steps to reduce oil production.
Saudi Arabia and Russia were close to finalizing an agreement with other producers in the informal OPEC + group to cut crude production by a record 10 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 10 percent of world production.
Oil prices fell to 18-year lows as the coronavirus outbreak has shut down economies around the world and after Saudi Arabia and Russia boosted production in a race for market share.
The call was led by Senators Dan Sullivan and Kevin Cramer, who introduced a law in March to eliminate US troops, Patriot missiles and THAAD defense systems from Saudi Arabia unless production is cut.
There were 11 Republican senators on the nearly two-hour call, including Bill Cassidy, who introduced the legislation last week to eliminate US troops in 30 days, a month faster than the previous legislation.
While the bills are unlikely to pass, senators have played an unusual role in increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally, as President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, has been in talks with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urging him to increase production.
They spoke to the Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, and the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan.
Alaska’s Sullivan applauded Saudi Arabia’s participation in the agreement to cut production, but said “actions speak louder than words.”
“The Kingdom needs to take concrete and sustainable actions to significantly reduce oil production, and it must do so soon,” said Sullivan.
Saudi Arabia’s move to increase production during a pandemic was “inexcusable” and “will not be forgotten,” said Cramer of North Dakota.
The United States, the world’s leading oil producer, is gradually cutting some 2 million bpd of output as lower demand and low oil prices force some heavily leveraged producers into bankruptcy.
The push from the Republican senators was a sign of how Congress could increase pressure on Saudi Arabia if it does not stick to the oil cut plan. If the kingdom doesn’t cut production, one-off measures could be included later this year in mandatory legislation, such as the annual defense policy bill.
In January, the United States had 2,500 military personnel in Saudi Arabia. In October 2019, Washington deployed around 3,000 soldiers there at a time of intense tensions with Iran.
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Report by Timothy Gardner; edition by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
