Saudi official says soaring oil prices can’t last

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said today that today’s soaring oil prices were not sustainable long-term, but that prices must be between $45 and $50 a barrel for petroleum producers to meet global demand, which he estimated would grow by 1.4 million barrels per day over the next year.

Ali Naimi’s demand growth estimate for 2006 was about 400,000 barrels per day below a recent forecast by the International Energy Agency, and that likely contributed to today’s oil-price decline.

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