Access to affordable energy is vital for health care services during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said at the opening of the G20 extraordinary meeting of energy ministers on Friday
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2020) Access to affordable energy is vital for health care services during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said at the opening of the G20 extraordinary meeting of energy ministers on Friday.
"During this global crisis, reliable and affordable energy is critical to providing basic services, including health care, and to ensuring our ability to stimulate an economic recovery," the minister said, as quoted on Twitter by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy.
Saudi Arabia, which currently holds the G20 presidency, called the extraordinary meeting of energy ministers in the wake of a draft OPEC+ deal being announced earlier in the day. Ministers are holding a video conference in the hopes of reaching a legally binding output cut deal after the Mexican representative withdrew from the negotiations.
Earlier in the day, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry told Sputnik that the deal, which sets out a collective reduction in crude oil output by 10 million barrels per day from May, was accepted by all member states apart from Mexico.
Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle had earlier said that her country was willing to cut oil production by only 100,000 barrels per day from May to June. According to the new deal, Mexico would be required to reduce output by up to 400,000 barrels daily.
