Business | Oil & Gas

Al Naimi says future oil supply bound by politics

The world has as much as five trillion to seven trillion barrels of oil yet to be developed, located in "challenging" areas or acreage closed to exploration, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al Naimi said.

  • Bloomberg
  • Published: 23:40 July 4, 2008
  • Gulf News

Madrid: The world has as much as five trillion to seven trillion barrels of oil yet to be developed, located in "challenging" areas or acreage closed to exploration, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al Naimi said.

"The limits to future supplies have more to do with politics than with geology and resource availability," Al Naimi said in Madrid, speaking at the World Petroleum Congress, where he is receiving an industry award.

Oil prices have doubled in the past year, touching a record $145.85 a barrel on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and de facto leader of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), decided to raise output unilaterally by 500,000 barrels a day during June and July as investors bought into commodities as a hedge against a weakening dollar, falling equity markets and on concern supply may be disrupted.

The kingdom, which said it would add 300,000 barrels a day to the market in June, held an emergency meeting last month for oil producers and consumers in Jeddah to discuss ways to stabilise the oil price, but no concrete decision could be reached.

It will pump an additional 200,000 barrels a day in July, taking daily production to 9.7 million barrels.

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