Saudi Arabia to Stabilize Oil Markets

Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will continue its role of stabilizing the oil market, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz said yesterday at a public lecture organized by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. 

Aziz said the kingdom "has worked constantly to fulfill her promises of stabilizing the oil market in order to support the development of the world economy."  To this end, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a 50-billion dollar program to increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2009.  Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer with more than a quarter of global reserves, currently pumps around 9.5 million bpd and has a capacity of 11.3 million bpd.

Analysts said the market was rattled by media reports during the weekend that the United States may launch military strikes against nuclear facilities of major oil producer     Iran.  Prices surged toward $70 dollars a barrel this week. The all-time high for the benchmark futures contract was 70.85 dollars a barrel reached on August 30, 2005 after Hurricane Katrina savaged oil-producing facilities in the Gulf of Mexico region in the southern United States.  Another benchmark, Brent North Sea crude oil, reached an all-time high point of 69.70 dollars per barrel on Tuesday.