Geneva, Riyadh Seek to Encourage Joint Investment in Mining

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources during a round table meeting in Bern (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources during a round table meeting in Bern (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Geneva, Riyadh Seek to Encourage Joint Investment in Mining

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources during a round table meeting in Bern (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources during a round table meeting in Bern (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Switzerland are seeking to increase economic cooperation and joint investments in the mining sector.

In this context, Swiss Ambassador to Riyadh Yasmine Chatila confirmed that more than 100 Swiss companies are operating in the Kingdom in various fields, including the industrial sector, which she said will contribute to the transfer of expertise and technologies.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Chatila said: “In terms of economic cooperation between the two countries, there are a large number of Swiss companies in Saudi Arabia that have agents and direct investments in several sectors. Chief among them is the industrial sector.”

On Monday, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef began an official visit to Switzerland to review the promising opportunities in the industrial and mining sectors, in addition to opening new channels of communication with investors between the two countries.

The Saudi minister called for strengthening bilateral cooperation in the industrial and mining sector, and increasing access to non-oil exports.

His comments came during a roundtable discussion on Thursday in Bern, in the presence of Helene Budliger Artieda, Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, and the participation of more than 15 major Swiss companies.

Al-Khorayef also discussed enhancing the role of the industrial and mining sectors as options in diversifying the economic base, by opening the doors to investors from all over the world, pointing out that Swiss companies contribute to training Saudis and transferring knowledge and technology in the fields of tourism.

The volume of Saudi non-oil exports to Switzerland amounts to more than 3.42 billion riyals ($912 million) and include natural and cultured pearl products, precious metals and jewelry.

Saudi imports total around 17.67 billion riyals ($4.4 billion), mainly consisting of jewelry, medicines, heavy machinery and food products.



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.