Pariahs no more? US reaches out to oil states as prices rise

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and CATHY BUSSEWITZ
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three checkered oil regimes that President Joe Biden and past U.S. leaders have spectacularly snubbed — Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran — are the targets of U.S. outreach as global fuel prices hit dizzying highs during the Ukraine crisis. But it’s not clear any U.S. diplomacy could get more crude on the market fast enough to help the current supply crunch. U.S. overtures to three problematic oil giants could lead to stabilizing rising oil and gas prices and draw those governments closer to the West and away from Russia and China. But Biden risks condemnation for outreach to governments accused of abuses and violence.