Biden Secures No Immediate Oil Output Boost Pledges, But US Officials Hopeful ‘in the Coming Weeks’

While the administration is not expecting Saudi Arabia to boost oil output immediately as a result of President Biden’s Mideast trip, officials are voicing confidence that the weeks ahead may see Gulf producers increase production.

They are also looking to the next meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers (OPEC+) in a little over a fortnight’s time, when the group will consider output for September and beyond.

Biden came away from his visit to Saudi Arabia without a announcement that his hosts would immediately boost oil output.

But Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s senior advisor for energy security – who accompanied Biden to Israel and Saudi Arabia – told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “based on what we heard on the trip, I’m pretty confident that we’ll see a few more steps in the coming weeks.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did say at a regional summit attended by Biden that the kingdom could increase its production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (from just over 11 million bpd), although the intention to do so had already been signaled two months earlier. – READ MORE