IEA Seeks Increase in Oil Output at Saudi Meeting

(Bloomberg) — The International Energy Agency is seeking an immediate increase in oil output at this weekend’s producer-consumer summit in Saudi Arabia to “calm markets” in the wake of record crude prices.

“The main message that will be very good is if we see an increase in production now,” Fatih Birol, chief economist at the IEA, said today in an interview in Istanbul. Oil producers should also agree “to increase spare capacity for the next years to come. This is what the markets need to hear.”


Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is hosting a June 22 meeting in Jeddah with consumers and oil companies to discuss how to stabilize prices. Saudi Arabia will increase oil output by 200,000 barrels a day next month, King Abdullah told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on June 15, according to a UN spokesman.

“It’s difficult to assess exactly how much output must be increased, but in order to calm down the markets, the more the better,” Birol said.

Bloomberg