May 23, 2008 1 min read

Who says Saudi Arabia isn’t a firm ally of the United States? When President Bush visited the Kingdom of Saud last week and asked that the Saudis open their oil spigot a bit to help ease the oil crunch, the response was in the best interest of the United States. It was “no.” …

The kingdom had already decided to increase production by about 300,000 barrels a day in June, President Bush was told, and that’s the best Saudi Arabia can do.

Best is apparently a relative term in Saudi Arabia (much as friend or ally is a relative term), because actually the kingdom has a production capacity of 11.3 million barrels a day, and the 300,000-barrel hike will bring June production to 9.4 million, or about 83 percent.

Meanwhile, oil is working its way toward $130 a barrel on the New York market and gas is approaching $4 a gallon right here in Ohio.

Which makes you wonder where we would be without friends like Saudi Arabia watching out for us.