Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1109092
25.04.19 8 FOREIGN NEWS SAUDI Arabia's energy minister said on Wednesday he saw no need to raise oil out- put immediately after the United States ends waivers granted to buyers of Iranian crude, but added that the kingdom would respond to customers' needs if asked for more oil. Khalid al-Falih said he was guided by oil market fundamentals not prices, and that the world's top oil exporter remained focused on balancing the global oil market. "Inventories are actually continuing to rise despite what is happening in Venezuela and despite the tightening of sanctions on Iran. I don't see the need to do anything immedi- ately," Falih said in Riyadh. e United States has decided not to re- new exemptions from sanctions against Iran granted last year to buyers of Iranian oil, tak- ing a tougher line than expected. "Our intent is to remain within our volun- tary (OPEC) production limit," Falih said, adding that Riyadh would "be responsive to our customers, especially those who have been under waivers and those whose waivers have been withdrawn." "We think there will be an uptick in real demand but certainly we are not going to be pre-emptive and increase production," the minister said. He said Saudi Arabia's oil production in May was pretty much set with very little var- iation from the last couple of months. June crude allocations would be decided early next month, he said. e kingdom's exports in April will be be- low 7 million barrels per day (bpd), while production is around 9.8 million bpd, Saudi offi cials have said. Under the OPEC-led deal on supply cuts, Saudi Arabia can pump up to 10.3 million bpd. Falih said there would most likely be "some level of production management beyond June" by OPEC and its allies, but it was too early to predict the output targets now. Oil prices rallied to their highest level since November after Washington announced all waivers on imports of sanctions-hit Iranian oil would end next week, pressuring import- ers to stop buying from Tehran and further tightening global supply. Brent crude futures fell on Wednesday, trading at $74.18 per barrel at 0848 GMT, after the International Energy Agency said oil markets were "adequately supplied" and "global spare production capacity remains at comfortable levels." Saudi's Falih sees no need for swift output action after Iran oil waivers end BRITAIN will allow Huawei Tech- nologies a restricted role in building parts of its 5G network, seeking a middle way in a bitter dispute be- tween the United States and China over the next generation of commu- nications technology. Huawei, the world's biggest pro- ducer of telecoms equipment, is un- der intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its tech- nology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this. Newspapers reported Britain's Na- tional Security Council, chaired by Prime Minister eresa May, had agreed to allow Huawei access to non-core parts of 5G mobile infra- structure like antennas, despite con- cerns from ministers. A security source told Reuters that Britain would block Huawei from all core parts of the 5G network and ac- cess to non-core parts would be re- stricted. A second source confi rmed that. Both spoke on condition of an- onymity. European nations are treading a fi ne line in the dispute between the world's two most powerful countries, under pressure from the United States to take a hard line on Huawei but also anxious not to sour trading and diplomatic relations with China. Britain's compromise could pro- vide a template for others to fol- low that the world's leading in- telligence-sharing network - the anglophone Five Eyes alliance - could live with. Huawei also wel- comed London's move. However, some British lawmakers remained opposed. "Allowing Huawei into the UK's 5G infrastructure would cause al- lies to doubt our ability to keep data secure and erode the trust essential to Five Eyes cooperation," said Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of Brit- ain's Foreign Aff airs Committee. " e defi nition of core and non- core is a very diffi cult one with 5G," he added. Britain has conducted an "evi- dence-based review" of the 5G sup- ply chain to ensure a secure base "now and in the future", a govern- ment spokesman said on Wednes- day. In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, the Unit- ed States is worried 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Wash- ington is not ready to accept. Compromise 5G, which will off er much faster data speeds and become the foun- dation stone of many industries and networks, is seen as one of the big- gest innovations since the birth of the internet itself a generation ago. " ere have been diff erent ap- proaches across the Five Eyes and across the allied wider Western al- liance towards Huawei and towards other issues as well," said Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber centre of Britain's main eavesdropping agen- cy, GCHQ. Martin, head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said Brit- ain's decision would be announced in due course. Huawei's equipment is either not present or is being stripped out of existing core networks in Britain, but is widely used in existing lower risk parts such as radio masts. Operators such as Vodafone have warned a complete ban would sig- nifi cantly extend the cost and time to deploy 5G. What Britain is trying to do is keep Huawei's technology away from the brain of the network, while using it in the less sensitive parts of the nervous system. e telecoms equipment market is divided between three majors sup- pliers - Huawei, Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia - and network operators oppose any reduction that would limit competition among them. Britain is an important market for Huawei, and the Chinese company welcomed the decision. "We welcome reports that the UK government is moving towards allowing Huawei to help build the UK's 5G networks," a Huawei spokesman said. "While we await a formal govern- ment announcement, we will con- tinue work cooperatively with the government and the industry and their evidence-based approach to network security." Britain to allow Huawei restricted access to 5G network Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih