TE24 International Desk:
France secured a pledge to supply new energy from the UAE on Monday after a meeting between President Emmanuel Macron and United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan in Paris.
The UAE has emerged as a major partner of Western countries competing for the world’s energy deals to replace sanctioned imports from Russia, AFP reports. MBZ, also known as Sheikh Mohammed, made his first official visit after taking over in May following the death of his half-brother.
An agreement on “cooperation in energy supply” was signed between French energy giant TotalEnergies and UAE state oil company ADNOC after the lunch of the leaders of the two countries. Macron’s adviser said before the meeting that France was interested in securing diesel from strategically important Middle Eastern countries.
“The UAE is keen to support energy security around the world, especially in France,” Sheikh Mohammed told Macron, according to state news agency WAM. Earlier in the trip, his diplomatic adviser, Anwar Gargash, emphasized how the UAE planned to refocus on supplies to Europe.
“We have sold oil in the Far East for 40 years, but now we are going to Europe in a time of crisis,” he told reporters.
It was Joe Biden’s first trip to the Middle East as president after the UAE president’s visit to France, which included a visit to Saudi Arabia for energy talks.
Macron and Biden were heard discussing energy supplies from the Middle East at the G7 summit in Germany in late June.
Macron told Biden that he had some excess capacity in Saudi Arabia, although he had spoken to Sheikh Mohammed, who said he was at the “peak” of oil production.
