Oil Efforts Are Best Possible, Saudis Say

"The Saudis have taken the measure of the administration and found they can convey their concerns to the administration, but they are not required to do much in return," said Dennis Ross, a Middle East envoy in both Democratic and Republican administrations.

At the news conference Friday evening, Naimi bristled at the suggestion that Saudi Arabia has been anything but cooperative with the United States. "How much more does Saudi Arabia need to do to satisfy the people who are questioning our oil policy?" said Naimi, adding that the Saudis are spending $90 billion to ramp up production over the next four years. The Saudis say they need to maintain "spare capacity" in the event of an emergency.

Bush's apparent rapport with the king has helped rescue a relationship that has been strained by the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Iraq war. Abdullah seems to take pride in the relationship, frequently asking emissaries from Bush how the president and his family are doing. The king does not trust the telephone to be secure, so contacts are usually by personal visits or emissaries.

To highlight the 75th anniversary of the Saudi-U.S. relationship this year, the two countries announced new agreements to cooperate on nuclear energy, nonproliferation and other issues.

Abdullah infuriated U.S. officials when he appeared before Arab heads of state last year and described the American presence in Iraq as an "illegitimate foreign occupation." A few months later, Vice President Cheney -- who is also highly respected by Abdullah -- flew to Riyadh to meet with the king and try to dampen Sunni Arab efforts to look for alternatives to the Maliki government in Baghdad. "Cheney stopped that in the tracks," said one U.S. official.

Another source of tension is the financing of terrorists. Saudi promises to set up a charities commission to regulate the flow of money that U.S. officials believe is supporting terrorism have not materialized, according to current and former U.S. officials. In little-noticed Senate testimony last month, the top U.S. official tracking terrorist financing portrayed a mixed picture of cooperation.

"They are serious about fighting al-Qaeda in their kingdom, and they do," said Stuart A. Levey, a Treasury undersecretary, who added that the same "seriousness of purpose" has not extended to combating financing for terrorists. "Saudi Arabia today remains the location from which more money is going to Sunni terror groups and the Taliban than from any other place in the world," Levey said.

One area of agreement between Abdullah and Bush is Iran, which they both see as waging a proxy war against U.S. and Saudi interests through allies in Lebanon, Iraq, the Palestinian territories and elsewhere. If anything, officials familiar with the king's views say, the king is even more hawkish than Bush and concerned about what he believes is Tehran's march through the Middle East. Abdullah wants to see the Bush administration bring greater pressure on Iran.

The last time Bush visited the kingdom, in January, Abdullah expressed dismay that U.S. warships buzzed by Iranian speedboats had not simply blown the tiny vessels out of the water, according to sources familiar with their meeting.