Saudi Energy Minister Emphasizes Importance of Balancing Growth, Energy Security

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Photo: Energy Ministry account on X
Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Photo: Energy Ministry account on X
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Saudi Energy Minister Emphasizes Importance of Balancing Growth, Energy Security

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Photo: Energy Ministry account on X
Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. Photo: Energy Ministry account on X

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz participated in the Energy Transitions Working Group meetings, the 15th Clean Energy Ministerial and the 9th Mission Innovation Ministerial, held this week in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, where he emphasized the importance of balancing economic growth and energy security.
The meetings focused on sustainable energy policies and equitable energy transitions within G20 efforts to enhance international cooperation aimed at achieving environmental sustainability and supporting innovations in clean energy technologies.
Prince Abdulaziz emphasized the importance of balancing economic growth, energy security, and climate change mitigation. He highlighted the Kingdom's leadership in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies, as well as its commitment to leading by example in leveraging circular carbon economy technologies, and affirmed the Kingdom's ambition to become a global leader in the production and export of clean energy.
Prince Abdulaziz also outlined Saudi Arabia's efforts to increase its renewable energy capacity, which is expected to reach approximately 44 gigawatts by the end of 2024, and touched upon the establishment of a hydrogen production hub in Ras Al Khair Industrial City, along with a major carbon capture and storage project, which will have a capacity of 9 million tons annually by 2027.



Gold Falls to One-week Low as Dollar Firms after Tariff Deadline Extension

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
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Gold Falls to One-week Low as Dollar Firms after Tariff Deadline Extension

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices retreated to a one-week low on Monday as the dollar firmed and traders digested US President Donald Trump's extension of his July 9 tariff deadline to August 1 and assertion that the US is close to several trade deals.

Spot gold was down 0.8% at $3,307.87 an ounce at 1302 GMT after hitting its lowest since June 30 at $3,296.09. US gold futures lost 0.7% to $3,318.

The stronger dollar, up 0.2% against a basket of other major currencies, makes dollar-priced gold more expensive for buyers with other currencies, Reuters reported.

"The market volumes remain quiet at this moment, and price action is probably still just reflecting the latest piece of economic data, but also starting to look forward to the potential for trade deals to be announced," said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

Last week's stronger than expected US payroll data cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates as early as previously expected.

Minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting and speeches by several Fed officials are due this week for further insights into the central bank's policy path.

Elsewhere, China's central bank added gold to its reserves in June for an eighth consecutive month, official data from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) showed on Monday.

"The PBoC in particular has been diversifying foreign exchange reserves substantially and an uptick in uncertainty and geopolitical risk may speed up the process," said Zain Vawda, analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA.

In other precious metals, spot silver fell 1.6% to $36.32 an ounce, platinum shed 2.9% to $1,350.97 and palladium lost 3% to $1,100.65.