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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