Saudi Arabia, today, has refused President Bush’s request to increase oil production. This is not surprising at all.

The White House says Saudi Arabia’s leaders are making clear they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it.

President Bush was in the oil-rich country Friday to appeal to King Abdullah for greater production to help halt rising gas prices in the United States.

But his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, says Saudi officials stuck to their position that they already are meeting demand.

Hadley told reporters, “What they’re saying to us is … Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to satisfy.”

Oil prices climbed to a new high on Friday, topping $127 a barrel.

However, you would think that the Saudis would want to tweak Iran a little bit by increasing production and therefore, hypothetically, dropping oil prices. But, who knows. Reading the Middle East is like reading tea leaves.