US Senator Ted Cruz demanded that Saudi Arabia retrieve its oil-laden tankers bound for his country, and the US Secretary of State confirmed that the White House was seeking to secure the stability of oil markets, while Saudi Arabia announced that it would borrow to finance the budget deficit.
Cruz said US energy producers are on the verge of bankruptcy and millions of jobs are at risk.
The Republican Senator added that his message to Riyadh is "Take back your tankers, hell," stressing that it must retrieve about twenty of its tankers laden with forty million barrels of oil on its way to the United States.
In turn, Pompeo said that President Donald Trump "is incredibly seeking to secure a more stable oil market in light of the massive drop in demand," explaining that demand has fallen by 20% and then 35% over the past weeks.
Pompeo expressed during a press conference in Washington that he hopes that the demand for oil will return to what it was in 2019.
Financing the deficit
On the other hand, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that reducing oil exports will have an impact on the gross domestic product, and that Riyadh will depend on borrowing in the largest part of financing the budget deficit.
Al-Jadaan predicted in a press conference via the Internet, a negative growth for the non-oil sector this year for the first time, indicating that the government will reduce spending on the level of travel, tourism, entertainment and sports sectors, and many projects will be postponed.
Political writer Omar Ayasrah told Al Jazeera that Saudi Arabia is required to stop what he described as political adventures, and return to its traditional strength by focusing on strengthening Aramco.
Ayasrah said that in light of the budget deficit it faces, it is imperative for the Kingdom to focus on rebalancing the oil industry and Aramco, noting that the statements that were made by the Saudi leadership regarding the transformation of the Saudi economy from oil to investment have achieved few results.