U.S. President George W. Bush discussed concerns about the high price of oil in talks with Gulf Arab leaders during his Middle East tour this week, a White House official said on Monday.

Ed Gillespie, a top Bush adviser, told reporters the U.S. leader and Gulf rulers had talked about "the nature of the market and the vast demand that's on the world market today for oil."

But he said he did not know whether Bush had discussed oil prices on Monday with Saudi King Abdullah.

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