PRES. MACRON INVITES MBS HH SAUDI CROWN PRINCE FOR A WORK DINER OVER ENERGY

USPA NEWS - His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defence, arrived in Paris this evening for a working dinner at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysee Palace, on July 28, 2022, after his trip to Greece, two days earlier, (then to Turkey in June,) for his first European visit for four years. There was a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens, where he signed agreements on maritime transport, energy, defense technologies, waste management and culture, and paved the way for bilateral cooperation on technologies. hydrogen and the project to transform Greece into "Europe's hub for this technology". He arrived accompanied by a large male delegation, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Faisal Bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud, of Energy, Abdulaziz Bin Salaman Bin Abdulaziz Saoud, of Sports Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Saoud, Culture Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bi Farhan Al Saud, State Mr. Mosaad Bon Mohammed Al Aiban, Commerce and Media Mr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi...

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defence, arrived in Paris this evening for a working dinner at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysee Palace, on July 28, 2022, after his trip to Greece, two days earlier, (then to Turkey in June,) for his first European visit for four years. There was a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens, where he signed agreements on maritime transport, energy, defense technologies, waste management and culture, and paved the way for bilateral cooperation on technologies. hydrogen and the project to transform Greece into "Europe's hub for this technology". He arrived accompanied by a large male delegation, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Faisal Bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud, of Energy, Abdulaziz Bin Salaman Bin Abdulaziz Saoud, of Sports Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Saoud, Culture Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bi Farhan Al Saud, State Mr. Mosaad Bon Mohammed d Al Aiban, Commerce and Media Mr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Investment Mr. Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al Falih, and e Secretary to the Crown Prince M Bandar Bi Obeid Al Rasheed, as well as entrepreneurs.

A VERY CONTROVERSIAL VISIT BY MBS BY DISSATISFIED ASSOCIATIONS AND NGOS
Many associations have expressed their dissatisfaction with his visit to France, following his link (according to the CIA investigation, and other ongoing investigations) with the assassination of the American-Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. Two NGOs Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and the association Trial International. have filed a complaint against the Crown Prince (MBS) Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saoud, during his visit to France, who slept in his boat in Louveciennes. The 42-page complaint claims that "MBS" is "an accomplice in the torture and enforced disappearance of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018" and that he "does not enjoy immunity from prosecution because, as crown prince, he is not head of state”.

SINCE THE RUSSIAN ATTACK ON UKRAINE ON FEB 24 BRENT BARREL OF OIL HAS EXCEEDED THE $100 THRESHOLD SINCE 2014 This official visit is taking place, in a context of war in Ukraine since the Russian strike on February 24, and is causing both an energy crisis, in terms of the transport of gas and oil from Russian gas and pipelines and Urkainians (Nord Stream I and II). Knowing that Russia provides 12% of the world's oil supply and whose rail price had immediately exceeded the threshold of $100 per barrel of Brent from the Russian attack of February 24, 2022, and this since 2014. For the past ten days, many heads of state from the Middle East have been pacing the diplomatic waltz of official state visits to Paris, where the head of state Macron has been trying tough negotiations to increase oil production. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron received the new President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed ben Zayed, in Paris, then Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas, Egyptian President Fattah AL Sissi, and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid in early July. During the trip, the officials announced an agreement between French energy giant Total Energies and Emirati state oil company ADNOC "for cooperation in the field of energy supply".

PRESIDENT MACRON IS TRYING TO CONVINCE MIDDLE EAST HEADS OF STATE TO INCREASE OIL BARREL PRODUCTION The hydrocarbons sector produces nearly 100 million barrels per day, the increase in production of which will necessarily be accompanied by a rise in prices: + 45% in 1 year. Inflation, and this energy crisis, based until now on a majority global consumption of fossil energy, at the origin of the evils of climate change by the emission of greenhouse gas effects, and pollution and destruction of biodiversity , is added that of the routing of the cruel ones towards the spays are most vulnerable. The hydrocarbon sector produces almost 100 million barrels per day! This increase in production is also accompanied by a rise in prices: + 45% in 1 year. The planet is both subject to a risk of great famine in Africa, in particular which is already suffering from drought, and from worsening consequences of climate change. President Macron, a great adept at negotiating through diplomatic channels, still hopes to obtain guarantees from OPEC heavyweights and gas and oil suppliers to increase their production from 13 million barrels a day to Million to overcome the shortage announced by economists next winter in the European Union. These twisted effects linked to the war in Ukraine, do not alone justify the thirst for oil of part of the world because since 2017, it is China which has become the largest importer of oil in the world, with, a quarter from the increase in global oil demand alone….hence the global imbalance of supply and demand. However, the maximum expected is 7.7% current increase in barrels of oil, by the end of 2026 and 2027, according to the agreements signed by the members of OPEC, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and Russia…

Moreover in May 2022, during a conference in Bahrain, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said "The most likely is 13.2 to 13.4 (million barrels per day) , but late 2026 or early 2027,” he added cautiously that, however, “production at this level will be maintained 'market permitting'.
on June 27, on the sidelines of the G7 in Germany, French President Macron announced that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia could not increase their oil production. On the Saudi side, the maximum production effort would be 150,000 barrels more per day or a little more, but that they "did not have huge capacities for six months". Besides
the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates had meanwhile replied a President Macron, retorting the country was producing near its maximum capacity on the basis of the OPEC + production agreement, or 3.168 million barrels per day .
As for the gas that's another story…

STATEMENT RELEASED BY FRENCH PRESIDENCY- ELYSEE
We publish the full text of te statement issued by the French Presidency Elyse,e over the visit of HH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, in Paris, after the work dinner at Elysee Palace on 28 July 2022.
"The President of the Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, met with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, in Paris on July 28 2022. The President of the French Republic and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia welcomed the strengthening of exchanges between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France. They expressed the wish to deepen the relationship between the two countries and to continue their consultation to meet regional and global challenges, in particular the fight against global warming and its consequences. The President of the Republic expressed his deep concern over Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, its disastrous impact on civilian populations and its repercussions on food security.

The President of the Republic and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia stressed the need to find a way out of the conflict and to intensify cooperation to mitigate its effects in Europe, the Middle East and the world. In this regard, the President of the Republic underlined the importance of continuing the coordination initiated with Saudi Arabia with a view to diversifying the energy supplies of European states and presented the FARM initiative for world food security. The President of the Republic and the Crown Prince recalled their shared attachment to security and stability in the Near and Middle East and expressed their desire to continue their joint efforts in favor of a lasting easing of tensions. On the subject of negotiations for a return to the Iranian nuclear agreement, the President of the Republic stressed the need for Iran to seize, while there is still time, the opportunity offered to it to return at the JCPoA. In the continuity of the Baghdad Conference, which was held last August, the President of the Republic recalled France's attachment to any dynamic aimed at promoting dialogue and regional integration.

The President of the French Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, met with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saoud, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, in Paris, on July 28, 2022 The President of the French Republic and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia welcomed the strengthening of exchanges between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France. They expressed the wish to deepen the relationship between the two countries and to continue their consultation to meet regional and global challenges, in particular the fight against global warming and its consequences. The President of the Republic expressed his deep concern over Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, its disastrous impact on civilian populations and its repercussions on food security.

The President of the Republic and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia stressed the need to find a way out of the conflict and to intensify cooperation to mitigate its effects in Europe, the Middle East and the world. In this regard, the President of the Republic underlined the importance of continuing the coordination initiated with Saudi Arabia with a view to diversifying the energy supplies of European states and presented the FARM initiative for world food security. The President of the Republic and the Crown Prince recalled their shared attachment to security and stability in the Near and Middle East and expressed their desire to continue their joint efforts in favor of a lasting easing of tensions. On the subject of negotiations for a return to the Iranian nuclear agreement, the President of the Republic stressed the need for Iran to seize, while there is still time, the opportunity offered to it to return at the JCPoA. In the continuity of the Baghdad Conference, which was held last August, the President of the Republic recalled France's attachment to any dynamic aimed at promoting dialogue and regional integration." Source Elysee