The key facts

  • Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain will sell France diesel equivalent to 10% of its consumption
  • Earlier, Riyadh guaranteed 190,000 tonnes of diesel for October and November
  • The UAE and France signed agreements on AI, cloud infrastructure and energy

Diesel supplies to lower prices

During President Emmanuel Macron's tour of Persian Gulf countries, France agreed on large-scale deliveries of diesel fuel from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain. According to Elysee data cited by The National, these countries agreed to sell a volume equivalent to 10% of France's diesel consumption in the coming weeks. An adviser to the Elysee Palace said the increased supplies are aimed at lowering energy prices in Europe amid public protests in France. The adviser also linked these political commitments to France's regional reliability and its previous deployment of air defense assets.

Volumes and tour itinerary

The tour began on Monday with visits to Kuwait and the UAE; Macron is then due to visit Bahrain and Qatar. Earlier, France received guarantees from Saudi Arabia for the purchase of 95,000 tonnes of diesel in October and 95,000 tonnes in November — 190,000 tonnes in total. The UAE and Bahrain are expected to separately sell France 100,000 tonnes of diesel over an unspecified period in the coming weeks. The sales will be handled by the French energy company TotalEnergies; its CEO Patrick Pouyanne is accompanying Macron on the trip.

Technology agreements with the UAE

In Abu Dhabi, in the presence of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed and Macron, preliminary agreements were signed in the fields of energy, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies. According to the Abu Dhabi media office, three agreements were concluded with the French startup AMI Labs: the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence will focus on joint research, the company G42 intends to create a framework basis for cloud infrastructure, and Analog plans to integrate AI models into robotics and physical applications for industrial sectors. In addition, Adnoc Gas and Schneider Electric signed an initial pact on evaluating advanced technologies and improving the efficiency of energy systems, while ADNOC Refining and Technip Energies concluded two contracts — one for a project to expand refining capacity and one for an initiative in sustainable aviation fuel.