Saudi Arabia, US 'Cannot Afford Not to Work Together' - Oil Minister

Saudi Arabia and the United States have close, strong relations in various spheres such as economy and geopolitics and cannot avoid working together, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – He said that he was not concerned over the possible shifts in US energy policy under the administration of US President Donald Trump.

"The relationship between Saudi Arabia [and the United States] is very very strong, and at the end of the day, whether it’s economic, it’s people to people or geo-strategic, Saudi Arabia and the US cannot afford not to work together," al-Falih said in an interview with the BBC broadcaster.

"I believe that at the end of the day, the Trump administration will do the right thing for the US… We want to do the right thing for Saudi Arabia and there are huge areas of alignment in our interest. The US is the biggest energy market," al-Falih said.

During his election campaign Trump pointed out that he wanted to increase oil production in the United States to make less dependent on oil import.