Macron Returns From Gulf With Diesel Commitments of 295,000 Tonnes a Month and Qatari LNG as Saturday Protests Loom

Since rioting tore through French cities over the weekend of Oct. 17-18 and President Emmanuel Macron left for the Gulf, the trip has produced its first concrete numbers. They came on Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Doha and Riyadh.

The Élysée says France now has commitments for 295,000 tonnes of diesel a month from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. That is just over 10% of French consumption.

The diesel and gas pledges

The UAE committed to about 100,000 tonnes a month, the presidency said Tuesday. A further 100,000 tonnes monthly is to be secured in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia agreed to supply extra diesel "for as many months as necessary," the Élysée told AFP. The presidency did not say how much.

In Doha, Macron said Qatar guaranteed "the equivalent of two terawatt-hours per month of LNG" for the winter. He said the deal will contribute to "reducing pressure on prices from November" and avoid shortfalls "predicted by certain operators."

He told reporters his objectives were achieved because France "received guarantees on volumes where we had pre-existing uncertainties." He said diesel was France's first priority and gas the second.

Diesel prices in Europe have surged to nearly $200 a barrel amid the Iran war and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, according to The National. Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel struck the country in February.

Macron said the biggest problem now is that shipping costs through Hormuz have multiplied tenfold because too few ships will transit uninsured. France and Gulf states are working on an insurance-style mechanism, infrastructure that bypasses the strait, and less dependence on it.

Riyadh and the Houthi front

The Riyadh stop was unannounced. Macron is the first Western leader to land in Saudi Arabia since the Iran-backed Houthis escalated attacks on the kingdom this month. The French presidency called it a visit to "demonstrate France's solidarity with the kingdom."

He met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The palace said the two agreed to consult on expanded security cooperation and on infrastructure to bypass the blockaded strait.

France is also sending military assets to Saudi Arabia under an earlier agreement to help protect the Red Sea port of Yanbu, which the Houthis have attacked. The UK announced Tuesday it would deploy fighter jets to help shield the kingdom.

Defence deals ran alongside the energy talks. Macron announced new agreements on Rafale jets, radars, air defence systems and armoured vehicles for Qatar. France and the UAE signed a defence agreement on the Rafale F5 programme.

On Iran, Macron said Tehran's answer to the U.S. in ongoing negotiations would come "in the next hours or days." He urged "extreme caution," pointing to elections in Israel and the U.S. midterms as periods when tensions could restart the fighting.

The pressure at home

The tour began as French authorities reported more than 2,500 arrests, with shops and town halls looted or burned. Macron acknowledged security and intelligence failures in a national address Sunday night. He refused his interior minister's resignation.

Criticism came from both flanks. Marine Le Pen said France under Macron is "caught in a vice between violence and impotence." Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused the government of relying on "inaction and police brutality."

Macron was also attacked for attending a Céline Dion concert in Paris on Friday night, shortly before the latest round of riots began. One demonstrator compared him to Marie Antoinette, according to Breitbart.

Macron's answer is that fuel prices are one of the causes of the unrest, so securing supply is part of the response. "I am fulfilling my role. I am at my post," he told reporters in Riyadh. "There must be no sign of febrility."

The Élysée has framed the trip as an effort to ease cost-of-living tension. The pledged diesel volumes cover roughly a tenth of French demand, and the Saudi quantity is still undisclosed.

Macron is term-limited, and the presidential election is approaching. That raises the political cost of any price spike this winter.

France is bracing for fresh demonstrations on Saturday, Oct. 24, after a weekend of rioting and looting. Authorities have introduced curfews. Whether pump prices ease in November, as Macron has promised, will be the first test of the deals.