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WASHINGTON - When President Bush, once a Texas oilman, asked Saudi Arabia to pump more crude, he may have forgotten that the Saudis have a long memory. And that made it a good bet his mission this past week would produce a dry hole.

In the 1990s the OPEC cartel was eager to pump more oil in a grab for cash as prices - like today - were going up, passing what then was viewed as a healthy sum in the $20-plus range. But then the Asia economic crisis struck and oil prices plummeted to below $10 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia and other producers got burned.

“They remember that and they’re not going have that happen again,” says Robert Ebel, an international energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They understand the market just as well as we do.”

This time Bush in his trip to Riyadh and his private meetings with Saudi King Abdullah walked away with a trickle of oil, but nowhere near a gusher.

Timing the announcement with the president’s visit, the Saudis said they would pump an additional 300,000 barrels of crude next month. They also made a point that the decision had been made a week ago, and not in response to Bush’s visit.

Energy analysts saw it as a token, and, in fact, oil markets responded by boosting prices a few more dollars to $126 a barrel.

A dozen years ago OPEC, led by the Saudis, were more likely to loosen their oil spigots, often cheating on the oil cartel’s self-imposed quotas. Today their primary goal is keep the supply and demand in close balance - and guard against prices tanking.

So when Bush made his second personal appeal this year to King Abdullah in search of ways to ease the pain for American motorists from soaring gasoline costs, the Saudis told him there’s plenty of oil already available. The additional 300,000 barrels - bringing Saudi Arabia production to 9.4 million barrels a day - was simply to meet customer needs in June, officials explained.

Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi scolded those “who are questioning our oil practices and policies.” Saudi officials also have reminded U.S. officials that they’re increasing their capacity to produce more oil, now about 11.8 million barrels a day, but of course that doesn’t bring any more actual oil onto the market.

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