JEDDAH, 20 May 2008 — Saudi Arabia announced yesterday that current oil production was enough to meet market requirements and that producing countries could increase capacity if there were “actual additional” energy needs.
The Council of Ministers made this important oil policy statement following a regular meeting at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, which was chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. “The Kingdom’s oil policy takes into consideration the interests of both consumers and producers and achieves a balance between demand and supply,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting the Cabinet statement.
Oil was below $127 a barrel yesterday, after Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries, said OPEC would not call an early meeting and was unlikely, even at its September gathering, to boost supply as the world had enough oil.
The Cabinet meeting also discussed major political developments in the region and urged the international community, especially the big powers, to protect the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. “The Palestinian people and leadership can no longer make any concessions,” the Cabinet said and urged Israel to stop its policy of intransigence, oppression, collective punishment and settlement expansion and comply with international resolutions.
Referring to the meeting of Lebanese leaders in Qatar, the Cabinet hoped that the meeting would reach an agreement that would pave the way for the election of a Lebanese president and an acceptable formula for a national unity government and constitutional changes.
Information Minister Iyad Madani said the Cabinet meeting took a number of important decisions. It endorsed the general agreements for cooperation with Kenya and Turkmenistan and authorized the minister of finance to sign an agreement with Greece for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion. It also endorsed an agreement with Spain on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion, and reshuffled the board of the Communications and Information Technology Commission.
The Cabinet statement on oil came ahead of King Abdullah’s weeklong visit to the Eastern Province where he will attend the 75th anniversary of Saudi Aramco, the Kingdom’s oil giant.
Eastern Province Gov. Prince Muhammad expressed happiness over the king’s visit. He thanked the king for selecting Dammam as a venue for a consultative meeting of GCC leaders. He said the GCC leaders would attend Saudi Aramco’s anniversary celebrations.
Prince Jalawi ibn Abdul Aziz ibn Musaed, deputy governor of the Eastern Province, welcoming King Abdullah’s visit, said it reflected the cohesion between the Saudi leadership and people.
Citizens in the region have expressed delight at the royal visit. Dr. Abdullah Al-Saihati, chairman of Saihati Group and a prominent businessman in the region, said people in the Eastern Province were very happy about the visit. He hoped that King Abdullah’s visit would witness the launch of more development projects, especially in the oil and gas sectors. He wished greater success for Saudi Aramco in its efforts to stabilize the international energy market by ensuring adequate supplies.
