Saudi Arabia Reiterates Commitment To China, Regardless Of U.S. Concerns

OilPrice.com ^ | 11/2/22

[EBH]

Apparently confirming the view of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) that the U.S. is now regarded as just another one of its partners in a new global order that would see Beijing and its allies share the leadership position with Washington, Saudi Arabia last week reiterated its commitment to China as its “most reliable partner and supplier of crude oil,” along with broader assurances of its ongoing support in several other areas. That MbS seemingly now sees the U.S. as a partner just for its security considerations, with no meaningful quid pro quo on Saudi Arabia’s part, whilst regarding China as its key partner economically and Russia as its key partner in energy matters, should not surprise the U.S. Back in March last year it was made clear enough at the annual China Development Forum hosted in Beijing, when Aramco chief executive officer, Amin Nasser said: “Ensuring the continuing security of China’s energy needs remains our highest priority - not just for the next five years but for the next 50 and beyond.” And yet, the U.S. is surprised by the apparent finalisation of the transition of Saudi Arabia away from Washington and towards China, which effectively marks the end of the 1945 core agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that defined their relationship up until extremely recently. This transition has been seen most recently in the refusal of MbS to take a telephone call from President Joe Biden in which he was to ask for his help in bringing down economy-crimping high energy prices and then in the huge cut in collective OPEC oil production snip

Apparently careless of these ramifications, Saudi Arabia last week stated that, in addition to continuing in its role as China’s partner of choice in the oil market,

[SmokingJoe]

Nobody has any respect for creepy Dementia Joe.
The Saudis even made fun of Dementia Joe on their national TV.

[Alter Kaker]

That’s fine, let the Chinese defend the Saudis against Iran and its proxies.

[SmokingJoe]

The Chinese can easily do that if they wanted to, just to protract their oil supplies.

[dfwgator]

Translation from the Saudis, “Let’s Go Brandon!”

[FarCenter]

China has more influence with Iran than does the US.