RIYADH, Jan 28: Energy diplomacy is out in full force to conquer new Himalayas. Saudi Arabia, the major player on the global energy scene, is using its energy card to cement relations with major upcoming powers in the East.

The ongoing visits of Saudi King Abdullah to China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan, apparently a part of his look eastward policy, has been making waves all around, this entire week, in an unprecedented manner — transforming in its wake the energy world. Energy issues remained the focal point of the current visit of the Saudi king.

Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia, the only producer on the scene today that could stabilise to an extent the global crude markets and can help quench the burgeoning Asian crude thirst, has been on the move this entire week. Besides discussing major political issues at his various stopovers during the almost two week sojourn, King Abdullah is out personally to these major Asian destinations, seeking to assure his hosts that despite all the turmoil and upheavals, political and otherwise, Saudi Arabia would continue to be a sensible and responsible player in the global crude markets. And that it would continue not only to play a stabilizing role in the market but would also endeavour to ensure the growth and the prosperity of the budding regional powers.

And despite the fact that higher oil prices mean greater revenues to Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries, King Abdullah in a rare interview to an Indian channel conceded that the current high crude price levels could hurt the emerging global economies. Hence the prices ought to get lower, he implied.

During the King’s visit to China, the first by a Saudi King ever, the two sides signed a deal on energy cooperation too. The deal was signed amid efforts by China to secure its future energy needs. Between January and November 2005, China imported 20.1 million tons of oil from Saudi Arabia.

Beijing currently imports about 450,000 barrels of crude daily from Riyadh, which amounts to 14 per cent of its total requirement. However, Beijing is greatly concerned about its future energy requirements and is seeking energy security. The details of the deal between Saudi Arabia and China have not been worked out yet and were expected to be discussed in details between the two sides in future parleys.

However, as per a report in the Beijing Morning Post, the two sides are discussing a large crude storage facility in the southern China’s Hainan province too. According to the details given out, the capacity of the reservoir was expected to be 25-30 million tons. The oil storage facility discussed during the visit was reportedly a part of a comprehensive joint venture that also included a refinery and a gas storage facility. According to some earlier reports, the idea of building a crude storage facility in China was first discussed when the then Crown Prince Abdullah undertook a visit to China in 1999 and the idea was his initiative. This reported agreement on the storage site formed part of a series of bilateral energy and trade agreements between signed between the two sides.

Then in New Delhi too, despite having a heavy political agenda, energy issues apparently continued to dominate the proceedings. The leaders of both the countries seemed eager to cement their relations in this sector. Indian energy requirements, fuelled by its rapid industrialization, economic growth and a rapidly swelling population, are galloping. India thus needs to secure its energy requirement in order to ensure a better future for its large population. India currently imports more than 450,000 per day of Saudi crude — roughly a quarter of its requirement and is the world’s seventh largest crude consumer. Its current consumption is 2.4 million bpd. However, by the turn of the decade, this consumption was expected to go up to 3.2 million bpd, hence the pressure to secure the future needs.

In a world where energy issues are assuming greater importance, and especially as clouds seem to be gathering on Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, for political reasons, India needs to secure its future requirements to ensure its economic growth. It is thus looking towards Riyadh to fulfil its future needs.

The Saudi King in New Delhi, after a gap of more than five decades, was himself been assuring the Indian leadership of the capacity, will and determination of his country in meeting the future requirements of India and all other crude consumers. The Saudi King’s visit to New Delhi would thus usher a new era of partnership — with energy playing a pivotal role. India and Saudi Arabia signed a long-term energy partnership MoU during the visit, with Saudi Arabia assuring to meet the growing energy demands of India.

In the remaining two legs of the King’s visit to Malaysia and Pakistan too, energy and economic issues are expected to dominate the parleys at the highest level.

A new Energy dominated regional order, based on a win-win scenario, thus seems to be very much on cards, emerging from the current diplomatic offensive of the Saudi monarch. Success of this new order could very much dictate similar arrangements with other stake holders in the current global energy equation. And nothing could be better, stabilizing and more soothing to the precarious global energy balance of today than this emerging new order to this confrontation and attrition prone globe.