Arab oil producers to increase production: OAPEC

Oil-producing Arab states plan to raise their production from 32.2 percent of the world oil market to between 38 and 40 percent by 2010, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) said on Saturday.

OAPEC said in a monthly bullet in that in light of global market developments, oil consumers and international companies look to the Arab region and Iran for accommodating the increased oil demand,especially as they are home to 71 percent of the total world oil reserves.

The bulletin said the region’s ability to increase oil production brings peace to the market, Saudi Arabia comes in the forefront of producing countries with a production capacity of 1.5million barrels per day (bpd) which may be raised between 12.5 and15 million bpd in the future.

In order to achieve the goal, about 421 billion US dollars will be invested in projects of the Middle Eastern power sector,including 130 billion dollars in Saudi Arabia and 95 billion dollars in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

China View