RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s resilience took center stage in Riyadh on Sunday as Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told global energy leaders that nothing would break the Kingdom’s commitment to the world.
“We are like a phoenix, we come out of the ashes all the time, and every time,” he said.
Opening the 17th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting, the minister said: “We make sure that whatever happens, our resilience, our plans, our commitment to the world, will be adhered to. There is no way that somebody will break our back.”
His remarks came a day after a terrorist attack on King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and injured 309, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The victims included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshis, and one person each from the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. The Arab Coalition blamed the Iran-backed Houthi militia.
Despite the attack, delegates gathered for Riyadh Energy Week, which runs from Oct. 11-15. Among those attending in person was Heineken Lokpobiri, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), who is co-hosting the IEF meeting. Representatives of the US, Russia, Romania, South Korea and other countries also attended.
The ministerial, held under the theme “Energy Security and Shared Goals in a New Era,” is hosted by Saudi Arabia with Italy and Nigeria.
Prince Abdulaziz, who is also minister of industry and mineral resources, said that global energy security required coordinated international action to confront unprecedented conditions, as successive shocks tested energy markets and the world economy.
He said the Kingdom’s energy sector had remained resilient and had met its supply commitments, pointing to the East-West pipeline. The line carries crude from the Eastern Province to Yanbu on the Red Sea, giving Saudi exports a route that avoids the Strait of Hormuz.
The minister said that Saudi Arabia was working on additional pipeline projects. He noted that such infrastructure took years and heavy investment to build and maintain, but cost less than the absence of alternatives when supply routes were disrupted.
Pedro Miras, president of WPC Energy, told Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines that security of supply was again the industry’s top priority. He said the global energy system was now better equipped to absorb shocks than it was a few years ago.
The stakes extend well beyond producers. World Bank President Ajay Banga told Reuters this week that the bank was in talks with 30 to 40 countries about crisis financing to cope with energy price shocks linked to the war in the region.
The IEF, the world’s largest gathering of energy ministers, is headquartered in Riyadh and led by Secretary-General Jassim Alshirawi. Italy will host the next ministerial in 2028.
Alongside the forum, Riyadh is hosting the 17th Clean Energy Ministerial and the 11th Mission Innovation Ministerial from Oct. 11-13. The 25th WPC Energy Congress runs from Oct. 12-15, the first time the Kingdom has hosted the event in its more than nine-decade history.
Beyond supply security, the agenda covers investment, critical minerals and rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.
With markets reminded of how much depends on a few routes, the week puts Riyadh at the center of the global conversation on how energy security is built and protected.