Saudi Arabia warns sanctions on Russia could lead to energy shortages

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman says kingdom is working to send LPG to Ukraine

EU sanctions have reduced Russian energy exports. Reuters

Western sanctions against Russia could result in a shortage of energy supplies in future, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Saturday.

He was answering a question at an industry conference in Riyadh over how trade measures would affect the energy market.

“All of those so-called sanctions, embargoes, lack of investment, they will convolute into one thing and one thing only, a lack of energy supplies of all kinds when they are most needed,” Prince Abdulaziz said.

The prince said Saudi Arabia was working to send liquefied petroleum gas to Ukraine. LPG is most commonly used as a cooking fuel and in heating.

The European Union has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, reducing its energy exports.

Other western powers have also imposed measures as they seek to further limit Russia’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

Opec agreed last year to cut its production target by 2 million barrels per day, about 2 per cent of world demand, from November until the end of this year to support the market.

An Opec panel last Wednesday endorsed the decision and said the group would stay the course until the end of the agreement.

Asked what lessons had been learnt from last year's energy market dynamics, Prince Abdulaziz said the most important one was for the rest of the world to “trust Opec”.

“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,” he said.