Boris Johnson urged to save UK petrol crisis by calling on Saudi Arabia to broker oil deal

Boris Johnson is being urged to save the UK from a looming petrol crisis by calling on Saudi Arabia to broker an oil deal.

The appeals come as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, reportedly declined a call from US President Joe Biden, sparking fears that the country will reject pleas to release their oil reserves and ease surging prices.

President Biden and the Saudi prince’s rocky relationship stems from the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist. He was murdered after criticising the Arab country's leadership.

Mr Biden retaliated by saying Saudis should “pay the price” for the journalist's death in his 2020 election campaign causing significant tension between the two leaders.

Mr Johnson is therefore being called on by MPs to repair the damage and use his comparatively warm relationship with the crown prince to convince him to release the country's oil reserves.

They have previously exchanged messages over WhatsApp and last month in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, spoke to each other about “energy cooperation”.

Tory MP Andrew Murrison said: “The energy crunch means that jurisdictions are going to have to look further afield for continuity of supply, which may mean some compromises. But we have to judge very often the lesser of a number of evils."

Mr Murrison, who served as Mr Johnson’s Middle East minister until February 2020, told the Telegraph: “The UK has always maintained a positive and constructive relationship with Saudi Arabia based on dialogue. I’m sure that will be useful in the current context.”

Tory MP Steve Baker seconded the statement saying: “Boris has come into his own during this crisis.

"Now would be just the moment for him to help deliver more flows of oil and gas from Saudi Arabia so we can shut down [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war machine sooner.”

On Wednesday, it was reported that Mr Johnson continued to see Saudi Arabia as a “partner” for the UK.

Today, petrol prices in the UK hit a record high. The average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts was 159.6p, up from 158.2p on Tuesday showed data from Experian Catalist.