Saudis ready to pump more oil to stabilise prices: Official
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it was ready to pump more crude if the market required in a bid to stabilise volatile prices that hit record highs near 140 dollars a barrel.
By Agencies |
JEDDAH/Saudi Arabia: OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it was ready to pump more crude if the market required in a bid to stabilise volatile prices that hit record highs near 140 dollars a barrel.
"We will meet demand. If demand requires more crude, we shall sell it," Deputy Oil Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told a press conference ahead of a crucial meeting for consumers and producers to discuss high prices.
"The kingdom's (production) policy is based on supply and demand. If there is more demand, it is natural to offer more crude," Prince Abdulaziz said.
However, he said he did not know if other OPEC members could join Saudi Arabia in raising output.
The minister said the kingdom, the world's biggest crude exporter, was aiming to stabilise the oil market.
"The kingdom aims at restoring stability to the world's oil price," which has been highly volatile in the past few years, he said. "We prefer continuity, stability in prices."
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However, he acknowledged that finding a quick solution to high prices was very difficult. "Some people might want an instant solution to high oil prices. I think this is a very difficult thing," he said.
Prince Abdulaziz said a working paper agreed by Saudi Arabia, OPEC, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Energy Forum (IEF) will be discussed during Sunday's meeting.
"The paper's sole purpose is to discuss the issue of current oil prices and how to draw a collective way of how to deal with this situation," he added.
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