LONDON: The UK government on Wednesday demanded the EU re-negotiate post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland after rioting and business disruption hit the restive province.
The European Union has long insisted that it is up to London to implement what it agreed in their drawn-out Brexit divorce, and the US administration is also looking on warily at the UK maneuvers.
London stopped short of suspending the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, which requires checks on goods crossing over from mainland Britain.
But Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told parliament that while the UK had negotiated the protocol “in good faith,” its real-world application by the EU had entailed “considerable and continuing burdens.”
“Put simply, we cannot go on as we are,” he said.
Rather than ad-hoc grace periods for border checks, Lewis said the UK was seeking a “standstill period” for the protocol including legal action by the EU.
He pressed for a new dialogue “that deals with the problems in the round.”
“We urge the EU to look at it with fresh eyes and work with us to seize this opportunity and put our relations on a better footing.”
The protocol was painstakingly negotiated to avoid a hard border with Ireland, by effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market.
Northern Ireland, which suffered three decades of sectarian conflict until a peace agreement in 1998, has been rocked by violence this year, in part against the protocol.
Many pro-UK unionists see it as creating a de facto border in the Irish Sea with mainland Britain and say they feel betrayed.
In its proposals, Britain urged the EU to stop broad checks and focus more squarely on goods “genuinely” at risk of entering its single market via Northern Ireland.
The government insisted that for all other goods, a light touch was needed to preserve Northern Ireland’s integral status as part of the UK.
It also wants the removal of any oversight role by the European Court of Justice.
Frustrated at the new red tape since the UK left the EU fully at the start of this year, several UK companies have already suspended sales to Northern Ireland, or are offering a reduced choice.
Retail chain Marks and Spencer said that in the protocol’s current guise, there will be “gaps on the shelves” in Northern Ireland this Christmas.
In a phone call Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Irish counterpart Micheal Martin the protocol was “causing significant disruption” and changes were essential, according to Downing Street.
But the EU, seeking to preserve the integrity of its single market, says Britain has been acting in bad faith, knowing full well what it signed up to.
There was no immediate comment from Brussels, but European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last week denied the EU was being dogmatic in its application of the protocol.
Ireland’s European affairs minister Thomas Byrne said Dublin would “listen carefully to what the British government have to say,” but insisted that any remedies must respect the hard-fought pact.
“We’re willing to discuss any creative solutions within the confines of the protocol,” he told BBC radio.
“But we have to recognize as well that Britain decided itself to leave the single market of the European Union, to apply trade rules, to apply red tape to its goods that are leaving Britain, to goods that are coming into Britain.”
The protracted rows over the protocol are drawing concern further afield from President Joe Biden’s US administration.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the administration wanted both sides “to negotiate within the existing mechanisms when differences do arise.”
John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy and a former secretary of state, told BBC radio that the Irish-American president was “deeply immersed in the issue.”
Both he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are “deeply committed in making certain that the (Good Friday) agreement holds and there is peace ultimately,” Kerry said.
UK demands EU agree to new post-Brexit deal for N.Ireland
https://arab.news/6w86c
UK demands EU agree to new post-Brexit deal for N.Ireland
- European Union has long insisted that it is up to London to implement what it agreed in their drawn-out Brexit divorce
- US administration is also looking on warily at the UK manoeuvres
From barrels to bytes: How AI is powering Saudi Arabia’s industrial transformation
- Inside the Kingdom’s drive to merge energy expertise with digital intelligence
RIYADH: Artificial intelligence is moving beyond concept to become a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s energy sector, reshaping how oil, gas, and power systems are managed and optimized.
Industry giants like Saudi Aramco are embedding smart systems into their operations to boost efficiency, reliability, and sustainability—key pillars in the Kingdom’s efforts to modernize its industrial base and diversify its economy.
According to the International Energy Agency, oil and gas companies were among the first to adopt digital technologies. The agency estimates that applying AI to power plant operations and maintenance could save up to $110 billion annually by 2035 through reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs.
For Saudi Arabia, this technological momentum offers both a blueprint and an opportunity. Under Vision 2030, integrating data and intelligent automation is transforming how energy is explored, refined, and delivered.
At the heart of Saudi Aramco’s operations is a digital transformation strategy centered on artificial intelligence, big data, and the industrial Internet of Things. These technologies are applied at every stage of production—from mapping reservoirs and optimizing drilling to improving efficiency and safety.
AI also underpins Aramco’s Digital Transformation Program, which develops in-house smart tools and data-driven platforms designed to cut emissions, reduce costs, and enhance performance while ensuring a reliable energy supply.
A prime example is the Upstream Innovation Center, where engineers have implemented AI solutions that reduce fuel gas use in boilers, improve efficiency, and detect potential leaks through fiber-optic monitoring. At the Khurais oil field, more than 40,000 sensors monitor approximately 500 wells via an Advanced Process Control system—the first of its kind for a conventional oil field at Aramco. Digitization at Khurais has increased production by around 15 percent, doubled troubleshooting speed, and lowered both costs and environmental impact.
These advances illustrate how Aramco’s network is evolving into a connected, adaptive model, blending traditional engineering expertise with digital intelligence.
DID YOU KNOW?
• AI could save up to $110 billion a year in global power plant fuel and maintenance costs by 2035.
• Advanced Process Control enables real-time monitoring of hundreds of oil wells in the Kingdom.
• AI-powered simulations now replace weeks of manual analysis, enabling faster operational decisions.
As Saudi Arabia develops an AI-driven energy economy, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is bridging the gap between digital innovation and industrial application.
Bernard Ghanem, chair of the Center of Excellence for Generative AI, said the university is working with Saudi Aramco to develop AI systems that predict the chemical properties of materials and accelerate research into direct air capture technologies for carbon dioxide removal.
He told Arab News that KAUST is partnering with SABIC and ACWA Power to apply AI in process optimization and materials discovery, turning lab-scale research into practical solutions for the energy sector.
Ghanem said KAUST’s generative AI materials program combines a robotic chemistry lab with its AI Chemist foundation model, a system that accelerates the development of catalysts, battery materials, and membranes for clean energy applications.
“This is our lab of the future, automating experimentation and speeding up energy innovation,” he said.
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Mani Sarathy, professor of chemical engineering at KAUST, noted that AI-based reinforcement learning tools are already improving efficiency in hydrocarbon refineries by enhancing simulations and shortening analysis cycles.
“AI is helping energy companies run complex simulations that once took weeks, enabling faster and more precise operational decisions,” he told Arab News.
Sarathy added that the next phase will combine automation with expert oversight. Hybrid human-AI control systems, he explained, are likely to become standard in critical operations, balancing digital autonomy with safety and reliability as Saudi industries expand AI deployment.
These efforts highlight KAUST’s growing role in transforming AI from an academic discipline into a driver of industrial innovation in Saudi Arabia’s energy sector under Vision 2030.
Meanwhile, Skeleton Technologies is bringing AI-driven energy storage solutions to Saudi partners, solutions that are already reshaping industrial systems across Europe and beyond. In Europe, the company combines artificial intelligence and advanced materials to reduce energy use and improve efficiency in data centers, electricity grids, and defense systems.
“Our solutions allow AI infrastructure to consume less electricity and reduce grid connection needs, making AI operations more energy efficient,” Arnaud Castaignet, vice president of government affairs and strategic partnerships at Skeleton, told Arab News.
Inside its factories, Skeleton uses AI-driven digital twin models, created with Siemens Digital Industries, to simulate production, optimize operations, and enable predictive maintenance, Castaignet said. At the core of its technology is curved graphene, a proprietary carbon material that gives Skeleton’s supercapacitors exceptional conductivity.
“It allows our supercapacitors to charge and discharge within microseconds, around 12 microseconds, something batteries cannot do,” Castaignet said.
The company’s flagship Graphene GPU system, built on these supercapacitors, cuts energy use in AI data centers by up to 40 percent and reduces grid requirements by 45 percent while boosting computing performance. The devices are free of lithium, nickel, and cobalt, relying instead on graphene derived from silicon carbide—essentially sand—processed entirely in Germany.
“To build sustainable AI infrastructure, you need energy-saving hardware as well as renewable power,” Castaignet added. “Our Graphene GPU shows both can work together.”
As Saudi Arabia continues linking engineering expertise with digital intelligence, its industrial progress is measured not only in barrels of oil but also in bytes, data, and the smart systems shaping its energy future.
