Saudis Rebuff Bush on Oil Output Request

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Saudi Arabia's leaders made clear Friday they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it, apparently rebuffing President Bush amid soaring U.S. gasoline prices. It was Bush's second personal appeal this year to King Abdullah, head of the monarchy that rules this desert kingdom that is a longtime prime U.S. ally and home to the world's largest oil reserves. But Saudi officials stuck to their position that they will only pump more oil into the system when asked to by buyers, something they say is not happening now, the president's national security adviser told reporters. Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to satisfy. What the Saudis wanted to tell us was we're doing everything we can do ... to meet this problem, but it's a complicated problem. The White House was satisfied with - or at least accepted - the Saudi response.