"Biden to Visit Saudi Arabia in Mid-Next Month... Will Energy Issues Be Resolved?"

Public Sentiment Worsens Amid Soaring Oil Prices...Interest in Whether Production Increase Will Follow
Human Rights Groups in the US Strongly Oppose...13 Organizations Visit to Protest

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia during his Middle East tour in mid-next month, according to foreign media reports. While there are expectations that this will help stabilize soaring oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, human rights organizations, a core support base of the Democratic Party in the U.S., have expressed opposition, raising the prospect of controversy.

On the 12th (local time), U.S. media Axios cited a White House official saying, "President Biden plans to visit Israel and Palestine on the 14th and 15th of next month, followed by a visit to Saudi Arabia," and reported, "In Saudi Arabia, President Biden is scheduled to meet with leaders from Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the previous day that Biden's visit schedule to Israel and Saudi Arabia could be announced as early as the 13th. President Biden also hinted at the possibility of the visit during a press conference the day before, stating that the Saudi visit was "not yet confirmed," but added, "There will be a major meeting related to the security of Saudi Arabia and Israel, which is why I am going."

President Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia is interpreted as an effort to reach an agreement to increase oil production led by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries amid rising domestic oil prices and inflation issues spreading into a global crisis. This move is analyzed as an attempt to reverse public dissatisfaction worsened by soaring prices ahead of the November midterm elections.

Earlier, at the OPEC+ meeting on the 2nd, Saudi Arabia announced an increase in production by about 648,000 barrels, approximately 50% more than usual for July and August, but this was deemed insufficient to curb the rising oil prices. There are also suggestions that Saudi Arabia may propose further production increases in negotiations with the U.S.

Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia deteriorated after 2018 when the Saudi royal family was implicated in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and dissident journalist in Saudi Arabia. If President Biden visits Saudi Arabia this time, it is expected that the issue will be set aside and efforts will be made to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.

However, there remains significant controversy within the U.S. regarding Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia. Human rights organizations, one of Biden's core support groups, immediately expressed opposition upon the announcement of the visit plan. On the 9th, Human Rights Watch and 13 other U.S. human rights organizations jointly submitted a letter opposing the Saudi visit to President Biden.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.