Saudi, UAE tout higher oil production, days before COP climate talks

AFP: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates said the world needs higher oil production yesterday, just days before the COP27 climate summit aimed at curbing global warming.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said the neighbouring Gulf countries were increasing production capacity, while a senior UAE official said the world’s growing population would need 30 percent more energy by 2050.

Both insisted that oil remains a cornerstone of energy supply but said they were working to lower emissions and increase production from renewable or less-polluting sources.

“We and the UAE are increasing our production capacity. We and the UAE are increasing our refining,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the ADIPEC oil conference in Abu Dhabi.

“We and the UAE are going to be the exemplary producer: hydrocarbon producer but also achieve all the sustainability goals,” he added.

The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition Conference (ADIPEC) opened just over a week before COP27 in Egypt, where representatives from nearly 200 countries will take part in the latest round of climate negotiations.