German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) and United Arab Emirates Climate Change Minister Mariam al-Mehairi visit a mangrove park on September 25, 2022 in Abu Dhabi (AFP/Mohamad Ali Harissi)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country was determined to never depend on a single energy supplier again while welcoming progress on diesel and gas projects during a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
The German leader has been touring Gulf countries since Saturday to try to forge energy partnerships there in the hope of replacing Russian supplies and easing the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
In Abu Dhabi, Mr. Scholz visited a mangrove park with the Minister in charge of climate change of the United Arab Emirates, Ms. Mariam al-Mehairi.
“We have made progress on a whole series of projects here in terms of the production and purchase of diesel and gas,” Scholz told reporters.
“Depending on a (single) supplier and depending (also) on his decisions will certainly not happen to us anymore”, he underlined.
“With the investments we are making in Germany which will gradually materialize over the next year, we will indeed have a gas import infrastructure which will mean that we will no longer be directly dependent on a specific supplier at the other end. of the pipeline”, added the German Chancellor.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (l) received by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on September 24, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Saudi Royal Palace/AFP/BANDAR AL-JALOUD)
On Saturday, Scholz met in Jeddah with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After his stopover in Abu Dhabi, he must go to Qatar, a country rich in gas, to meet with the Emir Sheikh Tamim ben Hamad Al Thani.
His trip to Qatar comes the day after the signing of a major contract worth 1.5 billion dollars between this country and the French gas and oil giant TotalEnergies for the development of the largest natural gas field in the world.
Mr Scholz said such projects were “important”.
“We must ensure that the production of liquefied gas in the world is sufficiently advanced so that the strong demand can be met without having to fall back on the production capacities in Russia used so far,” he said. declared.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné (l) and Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi (d) after signing a contract for the development of the world’s largest natural gas field on September 24 2022 in Doha (AFP/KARIM JAAFAR)
For her part, Ms. al-Mehairi said that the discussions with the German chancellor will focus, in addition to energy security, also on “climate action and economic growth (…); three pillars that must go hand in hand”.
She also reiterated the need for a global “just transition” from fossil fuels to clean energy sources.
Abu Dhabi and Riyadh criticize what they see as “unrealistic” transition models which they say have contributed to the current energy crisis.
© 2022 AFP
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