Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: DAVOS

OIL

Saudi king’s death ‘will not change oil policy’

The chief economist of the International Energy Agency said in Davos on Friday that there would be no "significant" changes to Saudi oil policy following the death of King Abdullah.

Published: 23 January 2015 11:11 CET
Saudi king's death 'will not change oil policy'
International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol. Photo: IEA

"With the death of the king, with the changes (in government), I do not expect any significant change in the oil policy of Saudi Arabia and I expect and hope that they will continue to be a stabilization factor in the oil markets," Fatih Birol told AFP on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
   
"I hope they will continue to contribute to the stability of the oil markets . . . especially in these days where we are going through difficult days," he added.
   
The elderly King Abdullah died earlier Friday and was replaced by his half-brother Salman as the absolute ruler of the world's top oil exporter and the spiritual home of Islam.
   
As the top producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia has been the driving force behind the cartel's refusal to slash output to support oil prices, which have fallen by more than 50 percent since June.
   
Oil prices surged Friday following Abdullah's death, amid uncertainty over whether the new king would maintain that policy.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and other Middle Eastern dignitaries left the Davos forum on Friday, flying home early on news of King Abdullah's death, event organizers told AFP.
   
The Jordanian king was set to address the world's financial and political elite in a speech at 2.15pm, but the address was cancelled, WEF planners said.
   
Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, another half-brother to King Abdullah, also left the posh ski resort, cancelling a Friday morning appearance alongside ministers from Canada and Germany.

Meanwhile, Israel's former president Shimon Peres told reporters in Davos that the death of King Abdullah was "a real loss for the peace of the Middle East".
   
"He was an experienced leader and a wise king," Peres said.

"He had the courage . . . to stand up and introduce a peace programme for the Middle East," he said, referring to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
   
"I'm not sure that we could have accepted all the items in the peace process but the spirit, the strength and the wisdom invested in it" led to a process that serves still as "a powerful base for making peace." 
   
The peace initiative put forward by Abdullah offered Israel blanket recognition from 22 Arab states in return for an independent state for the Palestinians.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

OIL

NGOs take Norway to European Court over Arctic oil exploration

Two NGOs and six young climate activists have decided to take Norway to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to demand the cancellation of oil permits in the Arctic, Greenpeace announced on Tuesday.

Published: 15 June 2021 14:18 CEST
NGOs take Norway to European Court over Arctic oil exploration
Northern Norway. Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash.

It’s the latest turn in a legal tussle between environmental organisations Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth Norway on one side and the Norwegian state on the other.

The organisations are demanding the government cancel 10 oil exploration licenses in the Barents Sea awarded in 2016, arguing it was unconstitutional.

Referring to the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the organisations claim that the oil licenses violated article 112 of Norway’s constitution, guaranteeing everyone the right to a healthy environment.”

The six activists, alongside Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth Norway, hope that the European Court of Human Rights will hear their case and find that Norway’s oil expansion is in breach of human rights,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

In December, Norway’s Supreme Court rejected the claim brought by the organisations, their third successive legal defeat.

READ MORE: Norway sees oil in its future despite IEA’s warnings 

While most of the judges on the court agreed that article 112 could be invoked if the state failed to meet its climate and environmental obligations– they did not think it was applicable in this case.

The court also held that the granting of oil permits was not contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, in part because they did not represent “a real and immediate risk” to life and physical integrity.

“The young activists and the environmental organisations argue that this judgment was flawed, as it discounted the significance of their environmental constitutional rights and did not take into account an accurate assessment of the consequences of climate change for the coming generations,” Greenpeace said.

On Friday, the Norwegian government unveiled a white paper on the country’s energy future, which still includes oil exploration despite a warning from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA recently warned that all future fossil fuel projects must be scrapped if the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The Norwegian case is an example of a global trend in which climate activists are increasingly turning to courts to pursue their agenda.

SHOW COMMENTS