Trade chief Takashi Fukaya underlined Wednesday the government's determination to support Arabian Oil Co. until its negotiations with Saudi Arabia over the renewal of the firm's rights to a major oil concession there are exhausted. Despite media reports on the apparent pessimism of some government officials, Fukaya said, "We expect Arabian Oil to negotiate tenaciously (with Riyadh) until the 27th. I just cannot tell (what will happen in the worst case scenario) after that." Arabian Oil's rights expire Sunday. Fukaya was speaking after holding talks with Arabian Oil President Keiichi Konaga in the afternoon and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi later in the day at Obuchi's official residence. Fukaya quoted Konaga as saying that negotiations remain difficult because Riyadh is sticking by its demand that the Japanese government build a costly industrial railway in Saudi Arabia. Ministerial-level negotiations over the contentious project came to a standstill last month after Fukaya visited Riyadh with a proposal to grant the Saudis a 140 billion yen preferential loan to fund the project. "We still think it's impossible to spend taxpayers' hard-earned money to provide a railway," Fukaya told reporters. He declined to comment further on the ongoing negotiations. Konaga was expected to return to Saudi Arabia for further talks but said on Wednesday that he has not decided when he will go. At a separate press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki said that even if last-ditch negotiations fail, no one can be blamed if all efforts have been made.
