US VICE-president Dick Cheney and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia agreed at the weekend that there were structural problems in the energy markets and discussed ways of stabilising these in the short term, a senior US administration official said.
The official declined to provide details on what specific agreements were reached, saying that the meetings were confidential. Mr Cheney also met Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi while visiting the king's Arabian horse farm outside Riyadh.
Mr Cheney's meetings in Saudi Arabia followed similar ones by President George W Bush two months ago during his visit to Saudi Arabia.
On that occasion Mr Bush urged Opec to increase oil production, but Mr al-Naimi insisted that the kingdom would boost production only if the market justified it.
The price of oil reached a high of $111 a barrel two weeks ago and has surged 77 per cent during the past year, pushing up the cost of petrol and other goods amid concerns that the US economy is on the verge of a recession.
