RIYADH: Ali Al-Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, and Maria van der Hoeven, Dutch minister of economic affairs and energy, exchanged on Thursday information about the progress made on the so-called Four Kingdoms Initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Saudi Arabia, the UK, the Netherlands and Norway.
Van der Hoeven says the countries are “heading forward to see that there is some progress on our talks on how to handle CCS (carbon capture and storage), and how to invest so that there is more knowledge and technology available.”
CCS is a technology that harvests carbon dioxide emissions that are byproducts of industry and moves the greenhouse gas underground to prevent it from polluting the atmosphere.
Van der Hoeven also pointed out that a consortium of leading Dutch water companies would shortly visit Saudi Arabia.
“The purpose of this water mission is basically to present a master plan to prevent future floods in Jeddah region and elsewhere in the Kingdom,” she said. “The Dutch water sector was also involved in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the US.”
Van der Hoeven, who wrapped up her two-day visit on Thursday, held talks with senior Saudi officials on subjects like the CCS initiative, the position of the International Energy Forum (IEF) secretariat besides a few other bilateral and international issues of common concerns.
“The objective of the visit was to strengthen relation with Saudi Arabia, especially in energy sector,” said Jurgen Bartelink, a spokesman of the Netherlands Embassy, here on Thursday. “Saudi Arabia is a focus country for the Netherlands.”
During her stay here, she met with Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thuniyan, chief of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, who is also chairman of SABIC board of directors; Saud Al-Mathami, acting minister of commerce; and SAGIA chief Amr Al-Dabbagh.
She also announced the visit of another Dutch trade delegation to the Kingdom on Feb. 6, which will feature energy solutions.
