Bush will raise rising oil prices during Saudi visit

Washington: US President George W Bush will discuss rising oil prices and subsequent effects on global economies with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah later this week, he said on Monday.

In an interview on CBS News radio, the American leader said: “Of course I'll bring it up to him," but acknowledged that Saudi's capacity to raise oil production is limited.

"When you analyze the capacity for countries to put oil on the market it's just not like it used to be," Bush said. "The demand for oil is so high relative to supply these days that there's just not a lot of excess capacity."

But, Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that it can produce as much as 11 million barrels a day, as compared to the current figure of 8.5 million barrels.

A White House spokeswoman also said that Bush would raise the issue of how high oil prices are draining the world economy.