Canada dispute won't affect oil sales: Saudi!

• Bilateral trade between the two nations is $3 billion a year.

Saudi Arabia's diplomatic dispute with Canada over its arrest of women's rights activists will not affect the Kingdom's oil sales to Canadian customers, the Saudi energy minister said on Thursday.

The remarks by Khalid Al Falih show the limits of the ongoing quarrel and may calm the dispute that suddenly erupted on Monday over Canadian diplomats' tweets asking the Kingdom to release the detained activists.A statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted Al Falih as saying oil sales are not affected by politics as there is a "firm and longstanding policy that is not influenced by political circumstances."

"The current diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and Canada will not, in any way, impact Saudi Aramco's relations with its customers in Canada," the statement said, referring the state-run oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

Canada, itself one of the world's five top energy producers, gets some 10 per cent of its oil imports from Saudi Arabia. Bilateral trade between the two nations is $3 billion a year.