ABU DHABI (Parliament Politics Magazine) – On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany reached an “energy security” agreement for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel as Berlin looks for alternative energy sources to Russia.
At a signing attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Emirati Industry Minister Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber described it as a “landmark new deal” that reinforces the rapidly expanding energy collaboration between the UAE and Germany.
As part of a Gulf trip that also included stops in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Scholz was visiting the UAE.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the chancellor’s counterpart in the Emiratis, wrote on Twitter after their meeting that they had talked about additional prospects for cooperation in sectors including emissions reduction, energy security and climate action.
According to WAM, Scholz stated that he “welcomed” the “energy security” agreement.
WAM also reported, the UAE will fulfil its end of the bargain by supplying “an LNG cargo for delivery in late 2022, to be used in the commissioning of Germany’s floating LNG import terminal at Brunsbuettel,” a North Sea port.
This month, the state-owned oil corporation of the UAE, ADNOC, conducted the first ever direct diesel delivery to Germany and said that it would supply about 250,000 tonnes of diesel a month in the year 2023.
It said a number of additional LNG cargoes have been reserved solely by ADNOC for German customers in 2023.
The second and last day of Scholz’s Gulf visit was on Sunday. The visit, he hoped, would result in new energy agreements to replace supplies from Russia and lessen the energy crisis brought on by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
He met with the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Saturday in Jeddah, then on Sunday afternoon, he flew into gas-rich Qatar for meetings with the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Meeting with the crown prince of Saudi
During Scholz’s visit to the UAE, Mariam Almheiri, the Emirati minister for climate change, gave him a tour of an environmental initiative in a mangrove park.
Leading critics of what they term “unrealistic” transition models that they claim are to blame for the current energy crisis include the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
While stating that his nation has made headway on a whole number of projects here in terms of the production and procurement of diesel and gas, Scholz also said that his nation was determined about avoiding future energy dependency on Russia.
It won’t happen to them again, he assured, that they were dependent on one supplier and also depending on its decisions.
After meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, Scholz declared his desire to strengthen the two nations’ relationship in the energy sector. Scholz claimed that during his discussions with the crown prince, he also brought up problems relating to civil and human rights.
