Saudi, Japanese officials vow efforts to stabilize global oil market

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Amid flailing global oil supplies after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, Japan and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday agreed to "jointly stabilize" the energy market.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, the Saudi foreign minister, pledged to work closely with Japan on energy issues during a meeting in the capital Tokyo with his counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Hayashi asked Al-Saud for “continued cooperation in stabilizing the international crude oil market and for additional production increase,” a statement from Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.

The prince is in Japan for a three-day official visit.

According to the statement, Al-Saud said the “strategic partnership between Japan and Saudi Arabia is solid” and that he would like “to continue to work closely together, including in cooperation towards stabilizing the international crude oil market.”

Since early this year, when Russia declared war on Ukraine, global oil supplies have declined as Western nations imposed sanctions on Moscow, disrupting the country's energy exports to consumers worldwide. It aggravated the market situation at a time when inflation is at historic highs due to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan, which is highly dependent on energy imports, has intensified diplomatic efforts to secure extra oil output from Gulf nations to normalize supply chains.

The visiting Saudi official also called on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to convey his condolences over the murder of former Premier Shinzo Abe, who was killed during campaigning for his party early this month.