Market determines oil prices: Saudi Arabia

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Sunday that the rise in oil prices to a record high had been determined by market forces.

“The market fixes the price of oil,” Naimi told reporters at an energy conference in Riyadh when asked to comment on oil’s surge to a record above $100 last week.


Naimi declined further comment on the price or what the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would decide at its next meeting on February 1 in Vienna. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and the most influential voice in OPEC.

U.S. crude hit a record of $100.09 a barrel on Thursday. High energy costs have caused concern among some members of OPEC about the potential impact on the global economy. But ministers say there is little they can do to tame the price, which is driven by political tension and speculators and not supply and demand fundamentals.

Reuters