Saudis see balanced oil market, ready to pump more if asked

Saudis see balanced oil market, ready to pump more if asked

London (Platts)--29Nov2004


World oil markets are currently balanced, with supply running slightly ahead
of demand, Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi said Monday. But Naimi made clear that
Saudi Arabia was willing to pump well beyond its current crude production
levels of around 9.5-mil b/d if required to do so, adding that the kingdom had
developed plans to increase output capacity from the current 11-mil b/d to
12.5-mil b/d in the next few years and had already studied longer-term
scenarios for boosting capacity to 15-mil b/d. 

Naimi, speaking at the Royal
Institute of International Affairs in London, was asked whether OPEC should
cut production now that crude prices had fallen by several dollars in recent
weeks. In response, Naimi said it was "unfair," to be asked to predict what
OPEC will decide Dec 10 in Cairo. But, he said, "the market is in balance, I
think supply is a little bit ahead of demand, inventories are building
comfortably." Refined products markets would become balanced once refinery
maintenance programs were complete.

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