Saudi Has Enough Spare Capacity To Meet Global Demand -Oil Min

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said Saturday that the kingdom has enough spare crude capacity to meet any increased global demand or potential supply shortage in the market.

There is a balance between supply and demand in the market, which has enough inventories, Ali al-Naimi said in remarks carried by state-run Saudi Press Agency, or SPA. The comments mark the latest effort by Saudi Arabia to reassure the market in the wake of rising anxiety over the Libya outages.

Current high prices are caused primarily by speculation, misinformation and unjustified fear about the future of supply and demand, he said, according to SPA.

Saudi Arabia, which has increased output to make up for the suspension of Libyan exports, is ready to meet demand from Asian countries or any other consuming nations, he added.

Oil prices have risen sharply in recent weeks as political upheaval in North Africa has spread from Egypt and Tunisia into Libya, a major oil exporter. Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have said they will make up for any shortfall in Libyan output, but markets remain edgy.

Oil analysts differ on their estimates of current Saudi production. But Saudi officials told Dow Jones the kingdom had boosted output 500,000-600,000 a day.

Fox News