Uncovering Tony Blair’s Relationship with Saudi Oil Company & Chinese Politicians

Love him, hate him or sit on the fence, Tony Blair is no stranger to controversy. Now, the former British PM is in the spotlight once again, with allegations that he actively courted Chinese leaders in a bid to acquire the oil firm of Saudi Prince Turki bin Abdullah.

According to journalists, Blair played a keynote role in helping PetroSaudi break into the Chinese market, using his role as Middle East peace envoy to strengthen his influence.

Blair accused of opening doors for PetroSaudi

Sources maintain that he won a “blessing” from influential Chinese leaders that gave the green light on allowing PetroSaudi to enter the republic’s market. His firm was reimbursed with £41,000 a month, plus a 2% commission laid on top of multimillion-pound contracts.  

The covert ‘courting’ unfolded in 2010, with a contract ruling that the company was not allowed to release the details of his involvement without permission. Emails have now been leaked, and Blair has landed in hot water regarding claims that he not only opened doors, but also advised and arranged deals for PetroSaudi investors. This includes a controversial rendezvous between PetroSaudi representatives, and the chair of the China National Petroleum Corporation.

Tony and his team deny all allegations

As there’s no hard evidence on the table the former PM’s spokespeople are denying inappropriate conduct, releasing a statement reading “His role was made known to the regulators … and he has never undertaken any activity other than making introductions. He does not do ‘deals’.”

For Blair, the newly uncovered email series could spark widespread criticism regarding his private business ventures, as well as fuel conflict of interest concerns relating to his role as Middle East peace envoy for the US, UN, EU and Russia. Needless to say, his team are in full swing disaster aversion mode, responding with statements such as the following:

“As we have made clear many times before, there was no conflict between any commercial work and the work on the Palestinian economy and institutions which Tony Blair did in an unpaid ex officio role for the Quartet… It is ludicrous to suggest that we would use PetroSaudi for anything related to Quartet work, and our contract with them clearly stipulated that this could not occur.

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