UK's Johnson comes up short in Gulf oil talks

RIYADH/LONDON－British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held talks about energy security on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan but secured no public pledge to ramp up production.

Johnson's trip to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh was aimed at securing oil supplies and raising pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, which led to sweeping Western sanctions and soaring world energy prices.

Johnson's office said that in his meeting with Abu Dhabi's crown prince, he stressed the need to work together to stabilize global energy markets.

After his talks in Riyadh with Prince Mohammed, Johnson was asked whether the kingdom would increase oil production.

"I think you'd need to talk to the Saudis about that. But I think there was an understanding of the need to ensure stability in global oil markets and gas markets," he said.

So far, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have snubbed pleas from the United States to ramp up oil production to tame the rise in crude prices that threatens a global recession in the wake of the conflict.

"The world must wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons and starve Putin's addiction to oil and gas," Johnson said before his meetings. "Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are key international partners in that effort."

The two Gulf states are among the few exporters within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with spare oil capacity to raise output and potentially offset supply losses from Russia. But they have tried to steer a neutral stance between Western allies and Moscow, their partner in an oil producers' grouping known as OPEC+.

The group has been raising output gradually each month by 400,000 barrels a day, resisting pressure to act more quickly.

The UAE remains committed to the OPEC+ deal, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters before the meeting.

Saudi press agency SPA said Johnson and Prince Mohammed discussed the conflict in Ukraine and international issues, adding that Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic partnership.

The administration of US President Joe Biden dispatched two officials last month to Riyadh to talk about a range of issues－chief among them global energy supplies. In a call with Biden prior to the visit, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud doubled down on "the importance of maintaining the agreement" that is in place between OPEC producers and Russia, according to a Saudi readout of the call.

Agencies Via Xinhua