Oil tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz have harmed global confidence in energy supply security, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said Saturday in a bilateral meeting with Japan's trade minister.
"This is something my government takes very seriously and we intend to take every measure we can to protect our infrastructure, our own territorial waters, our own ships," Falih said. "But we cannot protect the seas of the world, and therefore this is a connected global responsibility."
Falih made the comments to Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko during the G20 energy ministerial meeting in Karuizawa, Japan.
Saudi Arabia is committed to ensuring that global markets are stable, Falih said.
"We do it by monitoring those markets on a constant basis, and we work on ensuring that supply and demand are well balanced," he said.
Falih said Saudi Arabia is meeting all of the energy requests it receives from Japanese consumers, as well as other customers in Asia and elsewhere in the world.
"We've seen demand from some of these big consumers increase, and we have met all requests," he said. "There has not been a single barrel requested of Saudi Aramco from Japanese consumers that we haven't been able to meet."
Saudi Arabia is the largest crude supplier to Japan, accounting for close to 40% of total imports.
