“The kingdom will go ahead with this policy despite the current economic situation and the challenges being faced by the energy sector,”the Saudi Cabinet said in a statement following its weekly meeting chaired by King Abdullah.

The statement is likely to be seen as a ringing endorsement of a speech Oil Minister Ali Naimi made at an Opec seminar in Vienna last week, in which he insisted that Saudi Arabia“will stay the course”on its oil and gas expansion plans.

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