Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH - Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman warned against smear campaigns targeting the Kingdom’s energy sector. “Saudi Arabia is the only country that increased its oil production during the peak period of the coronavirus pandemic. The Kingdom was trying to create a state of certainty at a time when the world was living in a state of uncertainty during the pandemic crisis,” he said while noting that taking the initiative to invest is better than hesitating to take bold steps.

Addressing the 5th Session of the Budget Forum 2022 here on Monday, the minister cautioned that the world is on the verge of an energy crisis, unless there is an increase in investment spending to maintain and increase production capacity. Prince Abdulaziz stated that Saudi Arabia is the most important country that increased production capacity, along with a number of countries such as the UAE and Kuwait. Around 65 percent of the expenditure is to maintain the current levels of productivity and not to increase it, the minister said while warning against the depletion of unused production capacity at the global level.