RIYADH: As part of its strategy to explore new markets and expand in Central Asia, Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to cooperate in various fields including petroleum, petrochemicals, gas, electricity, and renewables.

The deal seeks to increase cooperation to promote the concept of a circular carbon economy to help reduce emissions, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Under the deal, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan will also work on technologies such as carbon capture and storage to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The agreement was signed by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and his Azerbaijani counterpart Parviz Shahbazov during a meeting held in Riyadh.

The two countries also agreed to organize workshops, seminars, and conferences on energy-related matters.

Saudi Arabia has recently signed several strategic agreements with various countries in the region and outside.

Earlier in May, the Kingdom’s energy minister said Saudi Arabia’s interest in energy cooperation with Arab countries is an integral part of its policy to strengthen deep relations in all fields.

He said that Saudi Arabia has signed several memorandums of understanding with Arab countries in the energy sector, including Egypt, Oman, Jordan, and Iraq.

The minister added that the MoUs aimed at enhancing cooperation in the fields of electricity, renewable power, clean hydrogen, petroleum and gas, petrochemicals, and other related fields.

In April, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands held talks to forge deeper cooperation in multiple fields, with energy and clean hydrogen as a top priority.

The talks led to the signing of an MoU to cooperate on the development of clean energy.

Commenting on the deal, the Saudi energy minister said the Netherlands could be the primary destination for transporting hydrogen from renewable energy sources from the Kingdom to Europe.

He also noted that the Netherlands and Germany would be Saudi Arabia’s “natural partners” in the green hydrogen trade.