Johnson fails to secure oil deal during visit to Gulf

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reluctant to say if his trip to the Gulf to encourage oil-producing countries to help rebalance the unstable world energy market by increasing their output had been a success when it came to an end.

Johnson visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, in a bid to strengthen ties which would help western nations become less reliant on Russia for energy supplies, as uncertainty around the war in Ukraine adds to the pressure on an already-strained global energy marketplace.

Speaking to the media after discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Johnson was less than specific about the detail of what had been discussed and any concrete conclusions that may have been reached.

"We discussed everything that you would expect, so I raised human rights, but we also talked about what we can do to stabilize oil prices, to fight inflation, to help consumers, to help people at the gas pumps, at the petrol pumps," he said. "A lot of agreement that it's important to avoid inflation, to avoid the damaging economic consequences, an agreement that we need to work together to bring peace to Ukraine."

Johnson said both sides agreed "that we need to see an end to" the conflict in Ukraine, and added that it was in the interest of all oil-producing countries that global price spikes did not contribute to the kind of inflation levels seen in the oil crises of the 1970s.

However, when pushed specifically on whether he had managed to convince the Saudis to increase production, Johnson replied: "I think you need to talk to the Saudis about that, but I think there was a... there was an understanding of the need to ensure stability in global oil markets and gas markets and the need to avoid damaging price spikes.

"And a strong global economy, a strong economy, which we've got, continuing with a strong UK economy, is very much in the interests of the oil-producing countries as well."

Despite Johnson's failure to get the kind of commitment he had been hoping for, government minister James Cleverly defended his visit, which came less than a week after 81 people were executed in Saudi Arabia.

"Ultimately the prime minister has quite an influential relationship with the political leadership in the Gulf states," he told BBC Radio 4. "Before they make any decisions like this, I have absolutely no doubt they will need to negotiate with each other through OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), but he will have pressed upon them the importance of providing stability in global energy markets."

When asked if it was reasonable to have expected that Johnson would return with some sort of deal, Cleverly added: "I don't think it was ever likely to be the case that it would be something that was agreed in the room.

"The oil-producing states will need to negotiate with each other as well as making internal political decisions, as you would expect."