Ukraine fm asks Saudi Arabia to help deal with fuel crisis
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for Saudi Arabia to step up and deal with the fuel crisis as shortages plague the country and prices skyrocket worldwide.
Kuleba asked the top oil-producing nation to help deal with the fuel crisis after meeting Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud.
Ukraine has seen a serious fuel shortage over the last several weeks as Russia has continued its devastating invasion and supply chains have fallen victim to Moscow s aggression.
As of last week, there were only two working gas stations on the more than 340-mile stretch between Lyiv and Kyiv. According to reports by The Economist, dozens of vehicles were seen lining up on May 19 from a closed gas station outside of Kyiv.
Ukraine s energy sector has been flagging under Moscow's deadly war with a naval blockade in the south, destroyed oil refineries, damaged railways and reliance on foreign oil from adversarial nations like Russia and Belarus.
The last gas distribution station in the region, which shares a border with Russia, has been closed, according to a decision by Luhansk, Ukraine's northeastern region.
A regional official said on Telegram that the region is completely without natural gas.
The last remaining surviving fuel distribution center was targeted by Russian shelling, according to the officials.
The Saudi foreign ministry did not respond to Fox News questions about the meeting Wednesday with its Ukrainian counterpart.
It is not known if or how Saudi Arabia would be able to help Kyiv with fuel, but Riyadh has already said no to helping the global community with worldwide shortages.
Prince Faisal told the World Economic Forum in Davos this week that producing more crude will not relieve the spiking prices at the pump.
According to a report by S&P Global, it's much more complex than just bringing barrels to the market. There is no shortfall of oil, as far as we are aware. The problem is refined products, which have been linked to a lack of investment over the last year and a half to two years in refining capacity. A Saudi foreign minister said the fuel shortage was a result of underinvestment in refining capacities.
The market report noted that maintenance lines, supply line cuts and closures have increased the number of refinery outages.
The demand for fossil fuels has resulted in a decrease in refinery investment after the pandemic, but ongoing demand has resulted in a decrease in refinery investment.
At this critical time when countries are reeling from energy shortages and climate crisis, international energy IEA chief Fatih Birol warned this week that the right investments need to be made.
Birol said last week at the World Economic Forum that they don't work and that we need fossil fuels in the short term, but let's not lock in our future by using the current situation as an excuse to justify some of the investments being done.
Birol argued that the world will not have to choose between clean energy and reliable supplies because of increased investment in renewable energy and nuclear power.