Saudi Arabia is changing priorities: minerals instead of oil

Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said that oil has lost its importance as the main element of energy security, giving way to critically important minerals. He noted that gas, electricity and rare materials are becoming new strategic resources. 

Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and manganese play a special role. These rare earths are vital for the production of electric vehicles, batteries, renewable energy technologies, and computers. Today, China controls about 60% of their global production, which is alarming to Western countries because of the threat to national security and economic stability.

Bin Salman highlighted the increase in energy consumption due to data processing technologies and AI. According to him, this will raise the demand for energy to new levels.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest $100 billion in the mining industry and expand production of lithium and other resources. This step is part of the Vision 2030 program aimed at reducing the economy's oil dependence and developing domestic mineral processing.