Novak: Moscow, Riyadh should oppose imposition of renewable energy

MOSCOW, Oct 26 (PRIME) -- Russia and Saudi Arabia as the two largest energy superpowers should oppose artificial imposition of renewable energy sources and de-carbonization that hurt sustainability of national energy industries, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud late on Monday.

The two countries bear special responsibility to the global community on the climate track as they are among the key suppliers of energy, he said.

“At the same time, we suppose that Russia and Saudi Arabia should pay close attention as the two energy superpowers to the issues of de-carbonization and oppose artificial enforcement of ‘greening’ of the international agenda to the detriment of sustainability of the national energy sectors,” Novak said.

The two ministers discussed the current trends in the international energy industry as well as the trends connected with the climate change like reduction of CO2 emissions in production and transportation of hydrocarbons.

Novak also met with several other top Saudi Arabia officials, including with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and told him that the two countries were important partners that had managed to ensure a stable balance between supply and demand on the oil market for several years.

Novak talked about partnership between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia with Tariq Al Qahtani, executive committee member of the Saudi Russian Business Council. Investment of U.S. $2.5 billion was implemented within the joint platform, and the partners are working on 20 more projects in the spheres of oil servicing, oil refining, cargo transportation, communication technologies, and agriculture.

Saudi Arabian company ARGAS and Russian oil company Zarubezhneft signed an agreement on mutual secondment of employees during the meeting, while ARGAS also signed a cooperation agreement with Russian state geological exploration company Rosgeo.

End