PM visits Gulf states: ‘Putin’s like a pusher, we need to get off our energy addiction’
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The Prime Minister is heading to Riyadh for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite deep concerns about the Gulf state’s human rights record. But Mr Johnson stressed the need to build the “widest possible coalition” in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He compared Vladimir Putin to a drug dealer who had got western nations hooked on his supply of oil and gas.
The PM said: “Vladimir Putin over the last year has been like a pusher, feeding an addiction in Western countries to his hydrocarbons. We need to get ourselves off that addiction.” Mr Johnson said standing up to Putin’s “bullying” means “we need to talk to other producers around the world”.
He added: “We’ve got a global crisis in which it’s obvious that the Russian aggression in Ukraine has helped to trigger a spike in the price of hydrocarbons, a spike in the price of oil.
“It’s vital, if we are going to stand up to Putin’s bullying, if we are going to avoid being blackmailed by Putin in the way that so many Western countries sadly have been, we have got to get ourselves off Russian hydrocarbons.”
The PM said British consumers were feeling the impact of the Russian invasion and that it is crucial to build a secure long-term energy supply.
He said that while only three percent of the UK’s gas comes from Russia, “a lot more of our diesel” does.
Ending dependence on Russian supplies is “one of the reasons I’m going out to the Gulf”, he added.
Mr Johnson is visiting the United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi this morning before heading to Riyadh on the whistlestop tour.
Britain has vowed to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year. Saudi Arabia has around two million barrels a day in spare oil capacity, and the United Arab Emirates around one million per day, with production limited by the Opec+ oil pact with Russia.
Combined, the capacity still falls short of Russia’s daily exports of around seven million. But Mr Johnson hopes he can alleviate some of the pressure causing food and fuel prices to spiral by convincing the Gulf nations to up production.
Downing Street admitted the issue “won’t be fixed in one visit”. The Prime Minister’s trip to Saudi Arabia comes just days after it executed 81 people in its largest known mass execution.
The Crown Prince has been a pariah since the US intelligence community said he ordered the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Thousands of civilian deaths have also been linked to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who chairs Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, urged the Government to ensure that “in seeking to lessen our dependence upon one source of oil and gas, we do not end up creating a source dependency on another unreliable and sometimes hostile regime”.
Mr Johnson is seen as leading the way in the Gulf talks on behalf of the West as relations between the Crown Prince and Joe Biden are non-existent. The US President has refused to deal with the leader in response to the death of Mr Khashoggi.
No 10 said the PM was taking a role in speaking to countries to end the volatility in oil and gas prices.
The PM’s spokesman said the UK is “firmly opposed to the death penalty and will raise Saturday’s executions with the government in Riyadh”.
During the trip, Downing Street expects Saudi Arabia’s Alfanar group will confirm £1billion of investment in the Lighthouse Green Fuels Project in Teesside, trying to produce sustainable aviation fuel from waste.
It is hoped the project will create more than 700 jobs during construction, and 240 once fully operational.
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