Crude oil news, and with wider implications on who the Saudis now consider their partners:
- in private, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman threatened to fundamentally alter the decades-old U.S.-Saudi relationship and impose significant economic costs on the United States if it retaliated against the oil cuts, according to a classified document obtained by The Washington Post
Washington Post article. Link, gated
More from the gated report, in brief from the WaPos report citing a leaked classified doc:
- After Biden said there would be "consequences" for Saudi Arabia slashing oil production last fall, MBS privately threatened that if Biden followed through “he will not deal with the US administration anymore"
- MBS also said there would be “major economic consequences for Washington"
In the end, the Biden administration did not impose consequences on Saudi, and MBS continued to meet with senior U.S. officials. MBS met with US Secretary of State Blinken this week.
