Al-Naimi: high oil price not justified

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said yesterday the high price of crude was not justified by market fundamentals, stressing that supply and demand are balanced. “Saudi Arabia is concerned about rising oil prices in the international oil market. The current high price of oil is simply not supported by market fundamentals,” he said in a statement. “The market is well balanced, forward cover remains within an acceptable range and inventories are more than adequate,” Al-Naimi added. He said the Kingdom remains ready to ensure adequate supply of oil to the international market. “Saudi Arabia will, as always, take all necessary steps to ensure the market is well supplied and to help moderate prices — and we will meet any additional demand from our customers,” he said. “We will continue to work in collaboration with other Gulf Cooperation Council nations, and with OPEC to defend the stability of the oil market,” he added. Oil prices rose yesterday on hopes of more US financial stimulus aimed at boosting the world’s biggest economy, a prospect that was helping to offset disappointing Chinese data, analysts said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October gained 64 cents to $ 114.89 a barrel in London afternoon trade. New York›s main contract, light sweet crude for October, edged up just a cent to $ 96.43 a barrel. Saudi Arabia in March became the world’s largest oil producer after increasing its production to 9.923 million barrels per day, topping Russia’s output of 9.920 million. From: Arabnews