Saudi-Swiss Officials Meet in Bern to Promote Industrial Cooperation

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef during a round-table meeting in the Swiss capital, Bern. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef during a round-table meeting in the Swiss capital, Bern. (SPA)
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Saudi-Swiss Officials Meet in Bern to Promote Industrial Cooperation

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef during a round-table meeting in the Swiss capital, Bern. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef during a round-table meeting in the Swiss capital, Bern. (SPA)

A meeting between Saudi and Swiss officials was held on Thursday in the capital Berne where talks focused on promoting cooperation between the two countries at the industrial and mining levels, and increasing non-oil exports.

The round table meeting was chaired by Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef, and Helene Budliger Artieda, Swiss minister of state for economic affairs.

The meeting was held in the presence of more than 15 major Swiss companies.

The two sides reviewed promising investment opportunities in these sectors in accordance with the objectives of "Saudi Vision 2030" and the national strategy for industry, which aims to expand the industrial base in the Kingdom.

Al-Khorayef’s visit to Switzerland aims to promote growth opportunities between the two countries in a number of promising industries, increasing access to Saudi non-oil exports to European markets, and attracting qualitative foreign investments in targeted sectors.



Report: US Ready to Reopen Oil Stockpile if Petrol Prices Surge Again

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
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Report: US Ready to Reopen Oil Stockpile if Petrol Prices Surge Again

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground), which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson, California, US, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

The Biden administration is ready to release more oil from the US strategic stockpile to stop any jump in petrol prices this summer, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein told the newspaper that oil prices are "still too high for many Americans” and he would like to see them “cut down a little bit further.”

Hochstein, speaking to the FT said that the US would "continue to purchase into next year, until we think that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has the volume that it needs again to serve its original purpose of energy security."

The Energy Department this year has been buying about 3 million barrels of oil per month for the SPR after selling 180 million barrels in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The move was an effort to curb gasoline prices that spiked to more than $5.00 a gallon, but it also reduced the reserve to its lowest level in 40 years.

Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters that the US could hasten the rate of replenishing the SPR as maintenance on the stockpile is completed by the end of the year.