RIYADH, 10 May 2006 — Pointing out that the Kingdom had a spare production capacity of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi declared yesterday that the country could meet the excess demand, if necessary.
“The Kingdom alone will be capable of meeting 50 percent of the increase in the global demand anticipated by the year 2010,” the minister told an international conference, “Building the Future”, organized by Euromoney here yesterday.
Delivering a speech on the “Petroleum Market and Industry: A Futuristic View”, the minister said: "I believe oil prices during this decade will hold steady," although he would not forecast a price range or price movements.
The minister said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with the Kingdom as a major oil producer, could meet the anticipated growth in global crude demand. However, the world will face a refining capacity crunch for the next four years. He attributed part of the problem to rigorous government regulations in major industrialized countries and severe restrictions imposed by them on refining operations and the quality of petroleum products, both locally and globally.
"As for the Kingdom's production, we are willing to increase it if there is a need and the new additions to production will be of light crude." The Kingdom has been producing around 9.5 million bpd, up from 8 mbpd, recently.
OPEC supplies about a third of the world's oil, but has been unable to rein in prices. It meets next on June 1 and several ministers have reiterated the group is powerless in bringing down prices.
