"The US government is considering tapping its oil reserves so that it could limit some of the upside for oil," she told AFP. However, Ong said the dip in crude prices would be short-lived, as cyber-activists in OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia called for protests demanding change in the kingdom this Friday. The Saudi interior ministry and top clerics slammed the calls while the US stressed the right to protest in the country, setting the stage for a volatile encounter which might threaten the stability of the ultra-conservative state.