Saudi Arabia's Naimi on Seoul visit says not happy with high oil
prices
Seoul (Platts)--13Apr2012/416 am EDT/816 GMT
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Naimi said Friday that the kingdom
has boosted crude oil production and was working with fellow OPEC
members to bring down high oil prices.
"We are seeing a prolonged period of high oil prices," Naimi said in a
statement issued by the Saudi Arabian embassy during his private visit
to the South Korean capital Seoul. "We are not happy about it. [Saudi
Arabia] is determined to see a lower price and is working towards that
goal," he said.
But the oil minister said there are no supply shortages in the global
oil market. "Fundamentally the market remains balanced -- there is no
lack of supply," he said.
"Saudi Arabia has invested a great deal to sustain its capacity, and it
will use spare production capacity to supply the oil market with any
additional required volumes," he said.
Naimi, on a private visit to Seoul, held no official talks with South
Korea's Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-Woo, but went on a brief
hike with him on a nearby mountain Friday.
"The two ministers mainly talked about oil prices," a ministry official
said, noting that Hong urged Saudi Arabia to make an effort to help
bring down crude prices and ensure stable crude supplies to South Korea.
South Korea imported 51.4 million barrels of crude oil from its biggest
supplier Saudi Arabia over January-February, up 11.9% from a year
earlier, according to Korea National Oil Corporation data.
--Charles Lee, newsdesk@platts.com
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