It was revealed by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi in an interview with CNN. Al-Naimi also said the Kingdom could raise production to full capacity of 12.5 million barrels daily within 90 days.
“Our wish and hope is we can stabilize this oil price and keep it at a level around $100,” Al-Naimi said. International benchmark Brent crude was valued at just over $111 a barrel on Monday. US crude traded at $99.50 a barrel.
Al-Naimi said Riyadh could increase production by about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) “almost immediately.”
“We can easily get up to 11.4, 11.8 (million barrels a day) almost immediately, in a few days,” Al-Naimi told CNN — up from just under 10 million bpd now. But “to get to the next (700,000 barrels a day) or so, we probably need about 90 days,” he said.
Iranian oil supplies to Europe are set to fall this year when an European Union embargo, due to be agreed next week, is implemented in July.
Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for large volumes of crude from the Gulf, should it face sanctions on its crude.
“I personally do not believe that the Strait, if it were shut, will be shut for any length of time,” said Al-Naimi.
“I don’t think all these pronouncements are helpful to the international oil market or to the price of oil. It’s really disturbing.”
Riyadh has not specified a preferred oil price since it said it favored $75 per barrel in November 2008. Oil prices have risen sharply since then and Saudi Arabia’s national budgetary requirements are now estimated by bankers at about $90 a barrel.
