The U.S. oil and gas industry welcomed President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia but also urged him on Thursday to visit energy sites at home amid the gas crisis.

The American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s top lobbying group, said a strong relationship with the kingdom benefits U.S. geopolitical interests, given Saudi Arabia's important role in maintaining regional stability in the Middle East.

“As it relates to the global oil market, Saudi Arabia is a key player and maintaining a constructive dialogue between our two nations is important,″ API president and CEO Mike Sommers said in a statement.

“That said, if the administration is serious about increasing [oil] supply, they should be meeting with producers here at home to bring real and lasting solutions instead of looking to governments overseas,” he added.

The oil industry has battled Biden in recent weeks amid record-high gasoline prices and industry complaints that the president has sought to vilify the industry while restricting new leases for domestic oil and gas production.

Sommers and other oil executives met with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm last month in a bid to find ways to increase gasoline supplies and lower prices. Biden has proposed a summer holiday on the federal gas tax, but the plan has met bipartisan opposition in Congress.

Gas prices in the United States averaged about $4.60 per gallon Thursday, down 41 cents from a month ago, according to AAA.