Saudi Arabia on Track for 12-14M B/D Capacity Post 2009

NEW YORK – Saudi Arabia will expand its oil production capacity after 2009 to between 12 and 14 million barrels a day, though the exact number is still uncertain, a senior executive at Saudi Arabia’s state oil company said Wednesday.

At a major energy industry conference here, Nansen Saleri, manager of reservoir management at Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, said the company plans to increase its oil production capacity to about 12 million barrels a day by the end of 2009.

“Beyond that it’s a bit unclear,” Saleri said. The company, the largest oil producer in the world, could increase production to 14 million barrels per day, he said.

Ali Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, in an interview published this week in the Wall Street Journal said that the kingdom planned to increase its capacity by the end of 2009 to 12.5 million barrels from 11.6 million barrels per day.

Schlumberger