Whatever The Oligarchy wants, it gets. Political leaders from both parties have been bending over for Saudi Arabia for decades.
“Why the U.S. government continues to protect the criminally corrupt House of Saud is beyond me.”
Petrodollar. At its inception, all oil was traded in dollars; most still is. Saudis, Gulf states always had a US carrier group in or near the Gulf. These states always bought the US treasuries and they were kept as reserves. Without reserve status, prices would be a lot higher for almost everything.
The buck is backed by a gun.