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
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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.”



World Bank Redirects Funds Towards Lebanon Emergency Aid

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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World Bank Redirects Funds Towards Lebanon Emergency Aid

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The World Bank announced on Thursday that it was redirecting funds originally earmarked for development programs in Lebanon towards emergency aid for people displaced by Israeli bombardment of the country.

"The World Bank is activating emergency response plans to be able to repurpose resources in the portfolio to respond to the urgent needs of people in Lebanon," said a statement from the US-based multilateral institution.

The multilateral institution currently has $1.5 billion in funding for programs in Lebanon. Part of this amount will be redirected.

Since September 23, more than 1,000 people have been killed in an Israeli air-and-ground campaign on Lebanon that has targeted armed group Hezbollah in the south and east of the country, with strikes expanding to include the capital Beirut.

Thousands have been displaced since the bombing began, and the funds would be used to provide aid to those populations, the World Bank said.

"This would include emergency support to displaced people that could be deployed through a digital platform the World Bank helped put in place during the Covid epidemic," the statement said.