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A30 world news
Diaranson 30 Maart 2022

Saudi oil chief says energy security imperiled by attacks

tacks. energy policy.

Crude oil prices have also been “We are not taking a side today,” the
buoyed by a deal struck by lead- Emirati minister said. The aim of
ing producers, led by Saudi Arabia OPEC+, he said, is stabilizing the
and Russia, in an alliance known as market.
OPEC+, which limited oil produc-
tion to keep prices from crashing Gulf Arab states have been hedging
amid pandemic lockdowns in 2020. their policies since the start of the
The group has stuck to its cautious Russian invasion, careful not to be
plan of releasing more barrels on a seen as choosing a side.
monthly basis as COVID-19 restric-
tions have eased. Critics of the plan Despite U.S. condemnation of the
say the Russian war in Ukraine is Houthis and U.S.-supplied anti-mis-
roiling markets and sending energy sile systems for Saudi Arabia, rela-
prices soaring for consumers at the tions between the Biden administra-
pump. tion and Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, the kingdom’s de-factor
High energy prices have not only ruler, remain tense. There has been
(AP) — Saudi Arabia’s oil chief Oil prices, already at their highest benefited oil exporters, but have also no direct call between the two since
said markets are going through in years, have shot up further amid helped Russia offset some of the eco- the U.S. president took office, though
a “jittery period” and reiterated the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, nomic pain from Western sanctions President Joe Biden has spoken to the
Tuesday that the kingdom’s abil- OPEC’s largest oil producer. Brent over its invasion of Ukraine. prince’s father, King Salman.
ity to ensure energy security is no crude prices are trading above $110
longer guaranteed. a barrel, though have soared at times The United States, European nations As the White House inches closer to a
past $120. and Japan have either called on Gulf nuclear deal with Iran, the Biden ad-
Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Arab producers with spare capacity ministration has tried to reassure tra-
bin Salman said cross-border attacks The Houthis have used drones and to pump more oil or, at a minimum, ditional Mideast allies of its commit-
have put to question “our ability to missiles to target the kingdom’s oil fa- suggested they should. British Prime ment to their security. Israel and sev-
supply the world with the necessary cilities, and have also attacked targets Minister Boris Johnson delivered eral Gulf Arab states remain fiercely
energy requirements.” The attacks in the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi. that request in person in Riyadh and opposed to any efforts that would lift
have been carried out by Yemen’s Abu Dhabi this month. sanctions on Iran.
rebel Houthis, who are supported by On Friday, they hit a Saudi oil prod-
Iran. ucts storage facility in the Red Sea “What we are asking for (is) not to “We have developed and delivered
coastal city of Jiddah, sending huge tell us ‘do this and do that’. We are our side of the story,” Prince Abdu-
“It goes without saying that if this se- plumes of black smoke into the air experts in our field and we have been laziz said, referring to the kingdom’s
curity supply is impacted, it will im- that were visible from the vicinity of doing it for a very long time,” UAE position on the link between its na-
pact us ... but more fundamentally, the Formula One race where practice energy minister, Suhail al-Mazrouei, tional security and global energy mar-
I think it also will affect the world laps were underway. said at the summit. ket stability.
economy,” he said.
The war in Yemen — where a Sau- Al-Mazrouei, doubled-down on the “People, others, need to deliver their
Prince Abdulaziz said Saudi Arabia di-led military coalition, which in- OPEC+ alliance a day earlier in re- own side of the commitment,” he
and the United Arab Emirates could cludes the UAE, has been battling marks at an energy forum in Dubai. added. “Otherwise, the very pillar of
once rely on a collective effort to en- the Houthis since 2015 — has rattled Again on Tuesday, he and the Saudi energy security will be disturbed, to
sure their energy security. “These pil- these two Gulf Arab states, revealing energy minister stressed the impor- say the least.”
lars are no longer there,” he added. the vulnerability of their oil facilities. tance of Russia’s roughly 10 million
The prince spoke at the World Gov- barrels a day in crude output, saying This year, the World Government
ernment Summit, an event spon- Saudi Arabia has expressed its frus- it amounts to almost 10% of global oil Summit is being held on the premises
sored by the government of Dubai in trations in official statements, saying demand. They insisted that politics of Dubai Expo 2020, the six-month-
the UAE. it will not bear any responsibility for — in reference to Russia’s invasion of long world’s fair that concludes later
shortages in oil supplies due to the at- Ukraine — should be separated from this week.

Volunteer vote-counters push for Hungary election integrity

(AP) — A grassroots civ- the April 3 ballot. Yet while the coalition’s strat- ballot counters delegated by ing process throughout the
ic initiative in Hungary, egy of coordinating its can- Fidesz. day in each polling place,
concerned over the in- Recent polls show that Or- didates across the country and have received training on
tegrity of an upcoming ban, whose Fidesz party has and running a single joint But in addition to counting how to recognize and report
general election, has re- held a nearly uninterrupted candidate for prime minister ballots once polls are closed, irregularities.
cruited more than 20,000 two-thirds parliamentary is likely to boost its perfor- they’ll also monitor the vot-
ballot counters to observe majority since 2010, is likely mance on election day, the
the high-stakes contest in to face his closest election outcome of the contest in
which nationalist Prime since taking power. many districts could come
Minister Viktor Orban down to only a few votes.
will seek a fourth consecu- United For Hungary, a coali-
tive term. tion of six opposition parties Such a tight race makes ac-
spanning the political spec- curate and transparent tally-
The effort to place at least trum from liberal to centrist ing critical, said Adam Sanyo,
two volunteer ballot counters to right wing, has joined to- a data analyst assisting Let’s
in each of Hungary’s more gether in an effort to over- Count Together in training
than 10,000 polling places come what they see as a po- the ballot counters.
came from a belief among litical, economic, media and
many supporters of Hungar- electoral system dominated On election day, the volun-
ian opposition parties that by the right-wing Fidesz and teers, each of which will be
without observers from their designed to give it an unfair officially delegated by one
side, vote tally irregularities advantage. of the six opposition parties,
could affect the outcome of will operate alongside other