US bankers head to ‘Davos in the desert’ despite Saudi tensions

US bankers head to ‘Davos in the desert’ despite Saudi tensions

Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia may haveplunged to a new low after the kingdom cut oil production in defiance of Washington’s wishes, but for American banks and investors flocking to a Riyadh conference this week it is business as usual.

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and David Solomon, head of Goldman Sachs, are among a host of western executives scheduled to speak at the Future Investment Initiative.

The conference, dubbed the “Davos in the Desert”, opens on Tuesday just two weeks after US president Joe Biden warned Riyadh that there would “consequences” after Opec+ cut its daily output targets by 2mn barrels.

The White House accused Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, of aligning with Russia, one of the other main producers in Opec+, and furious Democrats have called for the administration to freeze arms sale to the kingdom and end co-operation with Riyadh.

But for US banks, the allure of tapping into the kingdom’s oil wealth means they have no such qualms about engaging with Riyadh and supporting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship annual investor conference.

While much of the rest of the world frets about the risk of recession, Saudi Arabia is enjoying