Crawford, Texas ? President Bush prodded Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah on Monday to help curb skyrocketing oil prices, and the White House expressed hope that the kingdom’s plans would ease U.S. gasoline prices that have shot above $2.20 a gallon.

“A high oil price will damage markets, and he knows that,” Bush said of Abdullah, the de facto leader of the desert kingdom.

Asked whether pump prices would drop, Bush said that would depend on supply and demand.

“One thing is for certain: The price of crude is driving the price of gasoline,” Bush said. “The price of crude is up because not only is our economy growing, but economies such as India and China’s economies are growing.”

Saudi Arabia has outlined a plan to increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009 from the current 11 million limit. Saudi Arabia now pumps about 9.5 million barrels daily. If necessary, Saudi Arabia says it will eventually develop a capacity of 15 million barrels a day.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the plan could be seen as positive news by financial markets.

“The problem in the oil market now is a perception that there is inadequate capacity,” Hadley said. Reassurance that can be given to the market on available supply, he said, should “have a downward pressure on the price.”

High gas prices are a drag on the president’s popularity.

A recent Associated Press-AOL poll found the public giving the president low marks for his handling of energy problems, with 62 percent saying they disapproved. Earlier in April, another AP survey found public dissatisfaction growing more generally, with Bush’s job approval rating at 44 percent.

Bush has been urging Congress to pass his energy plan, but even the president has said that it will do little to give motorists short-term relief from high gas prices.

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah came calling at President Bush's ranch with a new 0 billion investment plan designed to substantially boost Saudi oil production over the long term. While the Bush administration heralded the plan Monday as a blueprint that could ease gasoline prices, the Saudis cautioned it was no quick fix.

In Washington, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said Bush’s meeting with Abdullah was a reminder of America’s dependence on foreign oil. He said fewer than 5 percent of the incentives in the energy bill were devoted to developing alternative energy sources.

Kerry said U.S. dependence on foreign oil tethered the United States to unstable regions of the world.

“We risk being drawn into dangerous conflicts, and an already overburdened military is increasingly stretched too thin,” he said.

Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia was producing all the oil that its customers were requesting. He said the price was being driven up by a shortage of refining capacity.

“What we have done is explain to the U.S. what our production capabilities are,” he said after the meeting. “We also explained to the U.S. — and we have for months — what our plans are for adding to that capacity in the future years.”

On another economic issue, the United States and Saudi Arabia are on the verge of a bilateral trade agreement that would allow the Gulf nation to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year, Abdullah’s foreign affairs adviser, Adel Al-Jubeir, said.

Other issues — including terrorism, prospects for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, Syria’s role in Lebanon, and democratic change in the Middle East — filled the leaders’ meeting and discussion over lunch. They agreed to set up a high-level committee, headed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Saudi foreign minister, to deal with strategic issues.

A U.S. push for democratic change across the Arab world faces a difficult test with Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally ruled by a monarchy. Last week, Saudi Arabia completed its first nationwide elections, an experiment in democracy designed to take the steam out of militant Islamic movements.

The council posts that were on the ballots, however, have little power, and women were not allowed to vote. Moreover, the United States has long-standing concerns about human and civil rights in Saudi Arabia.