Saudi Energy Minister Calls for Trusting OPEC+

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman participates in the 44th IAEE International Conference in Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman participates in the 44th IAEE International Conference in Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat
TT

Saudi Energy Minister Calls for Trusting OPEC+

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman participates in the 44th IAEE International Conference in Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman participates in the 44th IAEE International Conference in Riyadh. Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman reiterated on Saturday that OPEC+ does not interfere in politics.

"We are a responsible group of countries, we do take policy issues relevant to energy and oil markets in a total silo and we don't engage ourselves in political issues," the prince said.

Asked during an industry conference in Riyadh what lessons had been learnt from energy market dynamics in 2022, Prince Abdulaziz said the most important one was for the rest of the world to "trust OPEC+."

He also hoped sanctions would not result in a shortage of energy supplies in future.

In an answer to a question over how trade measures would affect the energy market, Prince Abdulaziz told the conference: "All of those so-called sanctions, embargoes, lack of investments, they will convolute into one thing and one thing only, a lack of energy supplies of all kinds when they are most needed.”



UK Economy Grew 0.7% in First Quarter of 2024

A general view of London's south bank of the River Thames including the city's tallest building the Shard, in London, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
A general view of London's south bank of the River Thames including the city's tallest building the Shard, in London, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
TT

UK Economy Grew 0.7% in First Quarter of 2024

A general view of London's south bank of the River Thames including the city's tallest building the Shard, in London, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
A general view of London's south bank of the River Thames including the city's tallest building the Shard, in London, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

Britain's economy grew 0.7% in the first three months of this year compared with the previous quarter, above an initial estimate of 0.6% growth, official figures showed on Friday.
The figures come less than a week before Britons vote in an election which opinion polls suggest will see Labour Party leader Keir Starmer replace Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Friday's data from the Office for National Statistics confirm Britain's economy exited a shallow recession at the start of 2024, Reuters reported.
But the overall growth picture is weak. First-quarter gross domestic product was just 0.3% higher than a year earlier, above an initial estimate of 0.2%.
Economists polled by Reuters had not expected any revisions to the quarterly or annual growth estimates.
Britain's economy has struggled since the last national election in December 2019, hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic - which dealt a lasting blow to the labor force - as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and post-Brexit trade frictions.