RIYADH, 3 May 2007 — Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said here yesterday that terrorists in Saudi Arabia have failed to reach their goals in plotting to destroy oil facilities in the Kingdom thanks to the government’s efforts against violent extremism.
“Terrorism has failed to accomplish what it desires in Saudi Arabia,” Al-Naimi said. “Saudi Arabia’s record of fighting terror, I would say, is outstanding and very effective.”
Saudi Arabia announced last week that security forces rounded up 172 terror suspects in recent months in various places in the country who were plotting to destroy oil facilities, assassinate high-ranking government officials and commit other acts of murder and mayhem.
Al-Naimi also announced yesterday that Saudi Arabia would increase its production to 12.5 million barrels per day by 2009.
“That will give us a spare production capacity of one-and-a-half to two million barrels per day,” he said, adding that he believed other oil producing countries would also increase their production ceilings.
He said that the Kingdom would not go beyond the production of 12.5 million barrels per day before that date, noting that it was difficult to judge the demands of the market.
“We do not know what the impact of the measures of conservation, efficiency and growth in the demand of alternative fuel is going to do to total demand,” he said. “For now our plans are to reach 12.5 (million barrels per day) by 2009 and then watch the world market for signals.”
Speaking at a press conference following the conclusion of the 2nd Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable, Al-Naimi said that ministers yesterday discussed the need for substantial investments in hydrocarbons whether it was upstream, downstream or midstream.
Commenting on the crisis in Iraq and its effect on global energy supplies, Al-Naimi said that Iraq was a rich country with large reserves of oil and gas.
“There is no doubt that disabling the production capacity due to instability affects the global market,” he said. “If security is sustained plans will take place to increase the production capacity to higher levels.”
He said that the Iraqi oil minister announced during the roundtable discussions that Iraq intends to produce six million barrels per day by 2015, calling the current energy supply from Iraq “disabled.”
Al-Naimi said that ministers yesterday did not discuss guarantees on the supply side or the demand side.
“What is being sought in the dialogue is that information and data on availability of supplies is always current, and also the availability of demand data is current and real,” he said.
He said that ministers discussed critical issues that producers and consumers deal with, such as the level of investment that both producers and consumers must make throughout the value chain.
He also said that the issue of security of supply and the security of demand was for both consumers and producers.
“We have talked about alternatives and their contribution to energy,” he said. “We have also talked about the necessity for conservation that everybody must consider whether we are a producer or consumer.”
At the end of the roundtable meeting, ministers in charge of energy affairs form 17 Asian countries issued a joint statement with ten points, including a pledge to continue to work together for sustainability and predictability of the global oil market, greater industrial efficiencies, a pledge to continue free-market policies and promoting investments in the world’s energy markets.
Commenting on the current high prices of the oil and the Kingdom’s stance on current oil prices, Al-Naimi said prices were determined by the market and not by producers or consumers.
“As a producer we make sure that the fundamental of the oil business is correct and balanced. We make sure that supplies are enough to meet demand; we make sure that inventories are at a proper level every time. We also make sure that we have some sort of spared capacity to meet emergencies,” he said.
He noted that natural disasters, geopolitics and unrest in producing countries were outside factors that affect normal producing activities.
Speaking on the sidelines of the roundtable, a spokesman for the Oil Ministry in Iran told the media that Iran had rejected a proposal from French energy giant Total regarding investments there.
“They have given a proposal and we have rejected it,” the official said. He said the bid had been once again returned to France for resubmission.
Total had signed a $2 billion deal for the first phase of the South Pars project on Sept. 28, 1997, snatching the biggest oil deal with Iran since the Islamic Revolution in defiance of US efforts to punish oil firms investing there.
The deal upset many in the US Congress, who saw it as a chance to apply the 1996 Iran Libya Sanctions Act, which allowed sanctions against foreign firms investing in the energy sectors of nations then accused by Washington of funding terrorism.
According to reports, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice have summoned the chief executive of French energy giant Total to explain the group’s activities in Iran, a French newspaper said last month.
Total has denied any wrongdoing on the Iran gas deal or in Iraq, where French investigators are examining separate claims that it infringed the United Nations oil-for-food program. De Margerie is under formal investigation in both cases.
Total S.A. is a French oil company headquartered in Paris, France. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and international crude oil and product trading. Total is also a large-scale chemicals manufacturer. It is one of the six oil “supermajors” in existence today.
