- Prime Minister to travel to the United Arab Emirates and
Saudi Arabia today
- One-day visit is part of UK efforts to ensure coordinated
international action on Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine
-
PM will also discuss energy
security in the region, as Saudi alfanar group confirms £1bn
investment in Teesside green aviation fuel project
The Prime Minister will meet leaders in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh
today [Wednesday 16th] for talks on energy,
regional security and humanitarian relief, as he galvanises
global action on the crisis in Ukraine.
He will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in the United Arab
Emirates before travelling to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman. The Prime Minister will discuss the
importance of allies working together to increase the diplomatic
and economic pressure on President Putin’s regime and minimise
the global fallout from the conflict.
The leaders are expected to discuss efforts to improve energy
security and reduce volatility in energy and food prices, which
is affecting businesses and consumers in the UK as well as
regional stability in the Middle East. In addition to
potential further measures to increase oil production, the Prime
Minister is focused on diversifying the UK’s energy supply and
working with international partners to ramp up renewables.
Saudi Arabia, for example, is the third largest supplier of
diesel to the UK, but the Kingdom also committed to net zero by
2060 ahead of COP26 and is investing heavily in green technology
at home and in the UK.
As part of today’s visit, Saudi Arabia’s alfanar group will
confirm a new £1 billion investment in the Lighthouse Green Fuels
Project in Teeside, aiming to be the first company to produce
sustainable aviation fuel from waste at scale in the UK. The
project is expected to create more than 700 jobs during
construction starting next year and around 240 full-time jobs
once it is fully operational. Aviation fuel generated by the
plant has the potential to produce 80 percent less greenhouse gas
than its fossil fuel equivalent.
Prime Minister said:
“The brutal and unprovoked assault President Putin has unleashed
on Ukraine will have far-reaching consequences for the world,
well beyond Europe’s borders.
“The UK is building an international coalition to deal with the
new reality we face. The world must wean itself off Russian
hydrocarbons and starve Putin’s addiction to oil and gas.
“Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are key international
partners in that effort. We will work with them to ensure
regional security, support the humanitarian relief effort and
stabilise global energy markets for the longer term.”
Today’s funding announcement follows a commitment last year by
Saudi firm SABIC to invest up to an additional £850 million to
reopen their hydrocarbons ‘cracker’ at Wilton and decarbonise
their operations in the north-east of England. The Prime Minister
is expected to visit SABIC’s innovation centre in Riyadh and meet
representatives from the alfanar group. Through our Sovereign
Investment Partnership, since 2021 the UAE has already invested
in excess of £3bn across life sciences, technology,
infrastructure in the UK – as well as a multi-billion pound
investment from BP and ADNOC in clean hydrogen hubs.
The Prime Minister will also discuss shared strategic priorities
with the leaders of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the
situation in Iran and Yemen, increased security cooperation,
trade and investment and supporting human rights and civil
society.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the UK’s two largest economic
partners in the Middle East, with bilateral trade worth £12.2bn
and £10.4bn in 2020 respectively. The UK is preparing for
negotiations on a trade deal with the wider Gulf Cooperation
Council, which will boost our trade and investment with the whole
region.
Notes to
Editors:
- The Prime Minister will travel overnight tonight [Tuesday],
arriving in the UAE early Wednesday morning.
-
He will be accompanied by
Minister for Investment Lord Grimstone
