Saudi Aramco CEO defends kingdom's oil reserve estimates
Houston (Platts)--17May2005
Saudi Aramco CEO Abdulla Jum'ah emphatically defended Saudi Arabia's own oil reserves estimates Monday while taking questions after a presentation at Houston's Rice University. "There is no disagreement between our professionals and other oil and gas professionals," he said, with particularly emphasis on "professionals," in response to questions referring to consultants who raised doubts about the kingdom's estimates. "I'll just leave it at that," he countered, when specifically asked about challenges from Houston consultant Matt Simmons, who has been a vocal critic of oil reserves estimates in the kingdom. Jum'ah fielded the reserves question and a few others following a presentation on the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US to kick off a leadership lecture series at Houston's Rice University. The university is launching a research project on the role of national oil companies in the world's oil industry and invited Jum'ah as its inaugural speaker. In his presentation, Jum'ah predicted the US will continue to need supplies from Saudi Arabia for the foreseeable future and emphasized his view that Saudi Arabia will be able to deliver. He stressed the importance of Saudi oil for maintaining global energy stability and noted that Saudi Aramco has never failed to meet a supply commitment for operational reasons during its seven decades of production. Jum'ah challenged those who criticize the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia as dangerous, saying that only Saudi Arabia's reserves can meet the energy demands of the future. Regarding a question about plans for Saudi investment in US refineries, Jum'ah would only say: "We continue to look for opportunities."
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