The two-day workshop on ‘Exchange of Experience on Security Aspects of Energy Infrastructure’ began with speeches by assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy division, Nato international staff ambassador Martin Erdmann, and executive director of Qatar International Petroleum Nasser Khalil al-Jaida.
Gulf states were blessed not only with large reserves of oil but also with abundant sunlight which could be tapped to produce electricity , the senior Nato official said.
The Foreign Minister’s Assistant for Follow-up Affairs Mohamed Abdullah al-Rumaihi also attended the inaugural session.
Erdmann said energy security should not be considered separately from broader challenges such as terrorism and regional conflicts, climate change, food security, shortage of water and inflation.
He described the dialogue and co-operation between Nato and the oil-producing Gulf countries as natural and inevitable.
He said the workshop aimed at further deepening trust and co-operation between Nato and the Gulf countries.
Erdmann also said the workshop was political, as Nato was a political organisation with military tools.
Al-Jaida said that while petroleum conferred on the Middle East its geopolitical and strategic weight it was also the region’s Achilles’ heel, as the petroleum industry was a tempting target in any dispute or conflict.
“Some of the recent crises in the region were associated with either a threat to or an actual disruption of oil supplies,” he observed.
Al-Jaida pointed out that the six maritime channels in the region and their concentration of petroleum shipping had always been faced with the danger of closure or blockade. He said political conflicts and instability within producing countries or transit states, interstate rivalries and disputes were the main challenges faced by the producing as well as consuming parties.
Al-Jaida concluded that there could be no security for energy supplies from the Middle East without real political stability in the region.
“Only if the Middle East manages to enter this virtuous circle and lets energy and peace work for each other will the region emerge into a new era,” he said.
