White House:Saudi Arabia Producing Oil At ”Near Capacity”

By Alex Keto, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Bush administration said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is producing oil at close to its capacity.

“You have to look the situation in Saudi Arabia as well, and I think most people recognize they are producing at near capacity already,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
McClellan’s comments came a day after President George W. Bush said he doubted Saudi Arabia was producing as much oil as it possibly could and said one question that has to be answered is exactly how much oil Saudi Arabia could produce if it went flat out.

Bush did say that it was clear that Saudi Arabia doesn’t have millions of barrels of spare capacity like it has in the past.

McClellan made the comments while talking about the upcoming meeting between Bush and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. McClellan said oil and energy issues would be high up on the agenda of the talks that will take place next Monday in Crawford, Texas.

However, McClellan also said the U.S. stays in regular contact with both members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as non-OPEC oil producers to ensure there are “affordable” and “abundant” supplies of energy.

McClellan blamed the run up in crude oil prices in part on increased demand from India and China which are fueling their growing economies.

Later in the day, Bush will deliver what the White House is calling a major speech on energy issues. He is expected to call on congress to deliver to him an energy bill before the summer recess.

-By Alex Keto, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; Alex.Keto@dowjones.com

Dow Jones Newswires
04-20-051022ET

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