Saudis Rebuff Bush on Oil

The Saudi king rebuffed President Bush's request for higher oil production, in the latest sign of how U.S. leaders are struggling to combat soaring energy costs that have become a major election-year issue.

The exchange between King Abdullah and Mr. Bush came on a day when crude-oil futures hit another record, up $2.17 per barrel to close at $126.29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With U.S. voters seething over gas prices, Congress is considering a grab bag of ideas: Withholding arms sales to Saudi Arabia until it ramps up production by one million barrels per day; opening up the ...