President Donald Trump is opening his four-day Mideast trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear program , end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more.
The crown prince will fete Trump with a formal dinner and host a gathering of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC nations have already helped their cause with Trump early in his second term by stepping up oil production. Trump sees cheap energy as a key component to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans. The president has also made the case that lower oil prices will hasten an end to Russia's war on Ukraine.
But Saudi Arabia's economy remains heavily dependent on oil, and the kingdom needs a fiscal break-even oil price of 96 to 98 a barrel to balance its budget. It's questionable how long OPEC, of which Saudi Arabia is the leading member, is willing to keep production elevated. The price of a barrel of Brent crude closed Monday at 64.77.
"One of the challenges for the Gulf states of lower oil prices is it doesn't necessarily imperil economic diversification programs, but it certainly makes them harder," said Jon Alterman, a senior Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.