South Korea and Saudi Arabia need oil but eye clean energy

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI and AYA BATRAWY
Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A delegation led by South Korea’s president visiting Saudi Arabia has inked a preliminary deal to explore a project to develop a potentially cleaner form of energy. This comes even as Saudi Arabia remains South Korea’s top supplier of crude oil. Still, South Korea is pushing ahead with plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest oil and gas producers. It announced last year a pledge to reach net-zero by 2060. Around a third of South Korea’s oil imports are from Saudi Arabia, making the kingdom Seoul’s top supplier of crude.