Germany's Scholz cites energy supply 'progress' on UAE visit

Germany's Scholz cites energy supply 'progress' on UAE visit

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, here with UAE Minister of Climate Change Mariam Almheiri touring a mangrove park in Abu Dhabi, is visiting the Gulf to secure energy supplies
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, here with UAE Minister of Climate Change Mariam Almheiri touring a mangrove park in Abu Dhabi, is visiting the Gulf to secure energy supplies. Photo: Mohamad Ali Harissi / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday his country was determined to never again rely on a single energy supplier and touted "progress" in gas projects while visiting the United Arab Emirates.

The German leader is touring the Gulf in the hope of sealing new energy deals to replace Russian supplies and mitigate the energy crisis resulting from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"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 in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi.

"The fact that we are dependent on one supplier and also dependent on its decisions will certainly not happen to us again," he added.

"With the investments that we are now making in Germany, and that will become reality bit by bit next year, we will indeed have an infrastructure for gas imports for Germany, such that we are no longer directly dependent on the specific supplier at the other end of the pipeline, as we are with a pipeline connection."

Read also

German bakeries fight for survival as costs spiral

On Saturday, Scholz met in Jeddah with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and later Sunday he was due to fly to gas-rich Qatar to hold talks with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!

His trip to Qatar comes one day after France's TotalEnergies signed a new $1.5 billion deal to help expand Doha's natural gas production.

Scholz said such projects were "important".

"We have to ensure that the production of liquefied gas in the world is advanced to such an extent that the high demand that exists can be met -- without having to fall back on the production capacities in Russia that have been used so far," he said.

In Abu Dhabi, Scholz toured an environmental project at a mangrove park with the UAE's climate change minister Mariam Almheiri.

Read also

France's TotalEnergies injects further $1.5 bn into Qatar gas

Almheiri said discussions on Sunday would, in addition to energy security, cover "climate action and economic growth".

"The UAE believes all three pillars must go hand and hand. We cannot look at one or two of these pillars separately," she said.

She also reiterated Abu Dhabi's insistence on "a just transition" away from fossil fuels.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been leading critics of what they describe as "unrealistic" transition models they say have contributed to the current energy crunch.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.