Shale oil impact focus of Riyadh talks

Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi held meetings in Riyadh with the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Secretary-General of OPEC, SPA reported.
Al-Naimi and IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven discussed current and future oil market conditions and Saudi Arabia’s influential and positive role in maintaining a stable market for oil producers and consumers, the report said.
The talks also focused on cooperation between international petroleum organizations such as the secretariat of the International Energy Forum, IEA and OPEC to develop an integrated system for petroleum data.
Al-Naimi and the IEA official discussed the need to protect the environment and the Kingdom’s achievements in combating pollution, an official statement said.
The Minister and OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Badri, meanwhile, discussed the possible implications of rising shale oil production on global oil markets, the report added.
The IEA, which advises the industrialized nations on energy policies, said recently that world oil supplies are tightening as Chinese fuel demand rises and OPEC supplies fall.
It had over the last few months described oil markets as well supplied.
OPEC said recently it expects demand for its crude to be lower in 2013 than previously expected because of higher supply from rival producers, indicating inventories could build up substantially even after a cut in output by the Kingdom.
The IAE has steeply raised 2013 global oil demand forecasts despite concerns about the health of the world economy.
The IEA said it raised its forecast for global oil consumption in 2013 by 240,000 bpd to 90.8 million bpd, some 930,000 or 1 percent higher that in 2012.