Jimmy Carter flew to Tehran in 1977 to exchange toasts with the shah of Iran on New Year's Eve after meeting the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
The shah had a bad human rights record. It was Mr. Carter who was obliged to celebrate with him for the cause that was important to the people back home.
When Russia starts an unprovoked war against a smaller neighbor, Mr. Biden doesn't have a lot of tools to bring down the cost of gas. The Middle East revolutions threatened the oil supplies that Western countries needed.
Mr. Biden promised to turn Saudi Arabia into a "pariah" for the assassination of a prominent dissident. He was going to visit the kingdom this summer. It was another sign that oil is back in charge.
A few years ago, many lawmakers in Washington and oil and gas executives in Texas were celebrating the fact that the United States had become a net exporter of oil and petroleum products and made it more energy independent. The achievement now looks like it's not worth it.
The United States is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world, but only accounts for a small portion of the global supply. The price of oil can go up or down depending on events in other countries. No president can do anything to control it.
The fact that a stop at the gas station can cost more than a year ago is comforting to Americans. Consumers can turn against presidents who seem unwilling or unable to bring down fuel prices when they go up.
When their jobs or their party's hold on power is at stake, presidents are forced to try to get foreign and domestic oil producers to drill and pump more oil.
Bill Richardson was an energy secretary in the Clinton Administration. There are only bad choices. Asking the Saudis to increase production is worse than any of the alternatives.
Iran and Venezuela are U.S. adversaries that have cut out of the global market because of sanctions. It would be politically perilous for Mr. Biden to strike a deal with their leaders without major concessions.
Saudi Arabia could not bring down prices on its own, according to energy experts. As European countries reduce their purchases from the country, Russian output could fall even further.
The price of oil can't be controlled by the president, according to the U.S. ambassador to Qatar. Even if prices go down for reasons out of Biden's control, he won't get a lot of credit for it.
Some Republicans argue that Mr. Biden could do more to increase domestic oil and gas production by opening up more federal lands and waters. He could make it easier for Canadian producers to send more oil to South America.
The initiatives that environmentalists and many Democrats oppose because they would retard efforts to combat climate change would have little effect because it takes months for new oil wells to start producing.
The director of Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy said that if the administration agreed to every aspect of the industry's wish list it would have a modest impact on today's prices. It would come with a lot of negative effects.
Mr. Biden and his aides have been trying to get U.S. oil executives to increase their production. Most oil companies don't want to expand production because they fear that drilling more will lead to a surplus that will cause prices to fall. They remember when the price of oil plummeted. Big companies, like Exxon Mobil, have largely stuck to their investment budgets despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
There is a conflict. The stock market has been badly affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There have been spikes in gas prices and product shortages due to the conflict.
The global growth rate is slowing. The aftermath of the war has made it hard for major economies to recover from the Pandemic and has made it hard for people to believe in the economy. In the United States, the GDP fell in the first quarter of the year.
Russia's economy is facing a downturn. The Russian economy has been spared a collapse thanks to capital controls and interest rate increases. Russia is likely to face a steep economic downturn as its inventory of imported goods and parts is low, according to the central bank chief.
Barriers are going up. The invasion of Ukraine has led to the creation of new barriers to stop exports as governments try to protect their citizens from shortages and rising costs. The products are more expensive due to the restrictions.
The prices of essential metals go up. Concerns that Russia could be cut off from global markets have caused the price of palladium to soar. The price of nickel has been going up.
After news broke that Mr. Biden was going to Saudi Arabia, the prices of the U.S. and global oil benchmarks went up. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.75 on Sunday, more than 20 cents higher than a week earlier and almost $2 higher than a year ago.
The decision to release a million barrels of oil daily from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve appears to have fallen flat. Analysts said it was difficult to tell if the releases had an impact.
The Biden team has been in talks with several countries.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on the oil industry in Venezuela in order to cripple it. Three administration officials traveled to Venezuela in March to negotiate with the opposition.
Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni could start exporting oil from Venezuela to Europe in a few weeks, according to a report.
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves. It could take months or even years for the country's oil industry to increase exports.
Mr. Biden wants to revive the Iran nuclear accord that the Trump administration withdrew from. Iran will be able to export more than 500,000 barrels of oil a day if a deal is reached. Iran has around 100 million barrels in storage.
Nuclear talks seem to be stuck in disagreements and are not expected to make much progress soon.
Any deals with Venezuela or Iran could become political liabilities for Mr. Biden because most Republicans and even some Democrats don't like compromises with the leaders of those countries.
Ben Cahill, an energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that no president would want to remove the Revolutionary Guards of Iran from the terrorist list. President's are wary of any moves that look like they are making political sacrifice and handing a win to America's enemies
Energy crises during war seem to surprise administrations, which are usually unprepared for the next crisis, according to foreign policy experts. According to Mr. Bordoff, the country should invest more in electric cars and trucks and encourage more efficient use of energy.
Politicians try to figure out what they can do to provide immediate relief to consumers when there is an oil crisis. He said that the country needs to better prepare for an oil crisis in the future.
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