RIYADH, 25 May 2006 — German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi for an overview of the Kingdom’s projects in the field of oil and gas and Riyadh’s efforts to supply the international market with all its energy need.
Al-Naimi welcomed Steinmeier and the German delegation and informed them of the Saudi government’s efforts to stabilize the world oil market in cooperation with other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Al-Naimi also pointed out future giant projects which are to be implemented by Saudi Arabia in the areas of oil and gas exploration in addition to increasing production capacity and constructing new petroleum refineries.
Steinmeier arrived here yesterday as part of a Gulf tour which has already taken him to Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates to discuss greater cooperation with GCC countries and the European Union’s stance on key Middle East issues.
The meeting was attended by Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Salman, assistant minister of petroleum and mineral resources for petroleum affairs; Prince Faisal ibn Turki, adviser at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Abdul Rahman Abdul Kareem, deputy minister for companies affairs; directors of German companies and top officials of Maaden, Taqah and Saudi Aramco.
Later, Riyadh Governor Prince Salman held talks with the German minister in the presence of German Ambassador Gerhard Schroembgens.
Steinmeier also visited Bahrain where he met with local officials and opened a 310-million euro gas turbine factory built by Siemens. The plant in the northeast of the capital Manama is to produce around 470 megawatts of electricity in its first phase and by early 2007 should be yielding 950 megawatts once all four gas turbines are operating.
He was due to arrive in Qatar later in the night, his last stop on the Middle East trip. Qatar has the world’s third largest gas reserves, after Russia and Iran, and wants to develop as the biggest liquid gas exporter.