Bush to discuss oil prices on trip to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is expected to talk with Saudi Arabian officials about the effect record oil prices are having on the U.S. economy during his upcoming visit to the kingdom, the White House said on Monday.

"Whenever the president has discussions with leaders in the region he talks about the impact that high oil prices do have on our economy and the impact that that has on the world economy. So, I think you can expect the president to make those concerns very clear," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Saudi Arabia, a key member of OPEC, is the world's largest oil producer and has the most unused oil output capacity. However, the kingdom and other OPEC members have rejected U.S. calls for the group to ramp up production to help lower prices, saying the markets are well supplied with crude.

The price of U.S. crude oil hit a record $120.21 a barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The higher oil price will likely be passed on to consumers at the pump, as crude accounts for about 72 percent of the cost of making gasoline.

Bush travels to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia on his May 8-13 trip.

(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by David Gregorio)