Riyadh covertly working on plans to artificially boost oil demand globally: Report
Story highlights
Riyadh allegedly aspires to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere, under its so-called oil demand sustainability programme (ODSP).
As rich countries transition to green energy and abandon West Asia’s treasure trove, Saudi Arabia is allegedly working on a plan to artificially boost oil demand in poorer nations, especially those in Africa, an undercover investigation has revealed.
The investigation has been carried out by the Centre for Climate Reporting and Channel 4 News, a British TV channel.
It revealed that Riyadh aspires to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere, under its so-called oil demand sustainability programme (ODSP).
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What is Saudi Arabia’s ODSP?
The biggest aim of ODSP is to “artificially stimulate demand in some key markets,” according to Saudi officials cited by an undercover Channel 4 News reporter.
To achieve this goal, Saudi Arabia plans to boost the development of supersonic air travel, which will use three times more fuel than conventional planes. It also plans to join hands with carmakers to produce cheap engines en masse to make cars more affordable, thus making fossil fuel more lucrative for the poor.
Watch: Saudi Arabia's non-oil economy shows resilience in October | World Business Watch
“The Saudi government is like a drug dealer trying to get Africa hooked on its harmful product,” Mohamed Adow, the director of the think tank Power Shift Africa, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
“The rest of the world is weaning itself off dirty and polluting fossil fuels and Saudi Arabia is getting desperate for more customers and is turning its sights on Africa. It’s repulsive,” he added.
ODSP’s official version
The Saudi government sells ODSP as a scheme to “remove barriers” to energy and transport in poorer countries and “increase sustainability”, for example by providing gas cooking stoves to replace wood burning.
Its stated objective, according to an Arabic site, is to “sustain and develop the demand for hydrocarbons as a competitive source of energy, by raising its economic and environmental efficiency, while ensuring that the transition in the energy mix [is] sustainable for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.
Saudi Arabia still maintains said it is committed to the Paris Agreement’s climate goals to restrict global heating to well below 2C while aiming for a 1.5C rise at most.
The revelation about Saudi Arabia comes just days ahead of the COP28 Summit slated to be held this Thursday (Nov 30) in the UAE.
(With inputs from agencies)
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