Energy powerhouse Russia and Saudi seal key oil accord
riyadh — Energy superpowers Saudi Arabia and Russia on Monday signed a key deal to bolster cooperation among the world’s oil giants, as visiting President Vladimir Putin sought to defuse political tensions in the Gulf.
Putin’s visit follows attacks on Saudi oil installations that Riyadh and Washington have blamed on Tehran.
At a ceremony in Riyadh, Putin and his host, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, penned a string of multi-milliondollar investment contracts targeting the aerospace, culture, health, advanced technology and agriculture sectors.
Key among the deals was the agreement to bolster cooperation among the Opec+ countries — the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus 10 non-members of the organisation.
Moscow is not a member of Opec, but it has worked closely with the group to limit supply and push up prices after a 2014 slump that wreaked havoc on the economies of Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Russia attaches particular importance to the development of friendly, and mutually beneficial ties with Saudi Arabia Vladimir Putin Russian President
Monday’s deal seeks to “reinforce cooperation ... and strengthen oil market stability”, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at the signing ceremony.
Putin said: “Russia attaches particular importance to the development of friendly, and mutually beneficial ties with Saudi Arabia”.
King Salman told Putin “we look forward to working with Your Excellency on everything that will bring security, stability and peace, confront extremism and terrorism and promote economic growth”.
Moscow and Riyadh have made a striking rapprochement in recent years, marked in particular by King Salman’s first visit to Russia in October 2017.
In an interview with Arabiclanguage television channels ahead of his visit, Putin praised his good relations with the Saudi royals.
“We will absolutely work with Saudi Arabia and our other partners and friends in the Arab world... to reduce to zero any attempt to destabilise the oil market,” he said in the interview broadcast on Sunday.
Russian political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov said that Moscow, with its older ties to Iran and new links with Saudi, could “play the role of peacemaker” as tensions soar between Tehran and Riyadh.
These tensions spiked last month after the attacks on Saudi oil facilities that halved the kingdom’s crude output and set oil markets alight.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility. But US officials blamed Tehran, charging that the rebels did not have the range or sophistication to target the facilities. —
AFP