Business | Oil & Gas
Saudi Arabia kept promise on production - Cheney
US Vice-President Dick Cheney said yesterday that Saudi Arabia had kept its promise to increase oil production capacity over the past three years.
- Agencies
- Published: 21:19 March 24, 2008
Jerusalem: US Vice-President Dick Cheney said yesterday that Saudi Arabia had kept its promise to increase oil production capacity over the past three years.
Cheney was in Jerusalem after visiting Saudi Arabia last week. He said in Saudi Arabia he reviewed the situation with Oil Minister Ali bin Ebrahim Al Naimi after Riyadh told the United States it was expanding capacity three years ago.
At that time they were producing about 10-12 million barrels per day.
"They said they would add 2 million barrels a day in production over the next four or five years, through the end of (2009), and they've kept their word," Cheney said.
Meanwhile, a senior US official suggested yesterday that Dick Cheney did not pressure Saudi Arabia to increase oil production during his visit to the kingdom last week.
"It's a little hard to go berate others to produce more when we won't produce everything we can ourselves," the official told reporters travelling with the vice president as he wrapped up a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Cheney met with Saudi King Abdullah and discussed "what could be done shorter term, but probably more about what's necessary to do over the medium and longer term," a senior US official told reporters Saturday on condition of anonymity.
At the time it was not clear whether Cheney had pushed his long-time friend - aides say they grew close during the 1991 Gulf War when Cheney was defence secretary - to increase production in a bid to lower record oil prices.
Reaffirmation: Saudis vow to meet demand
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, said it will ensure international markets are adequately supplied with crude to support the continued growth of the global economy.
The Supreme Council of Petroleum and Mineral Affairs, chaired by King Abdullah, agreed to work with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-Opec countries to ensure oil market stability and "prevent the effects of harmful speculation," the government body said in a statement posted late yesterday on the website of the state news agency.
The meeting was held one day after US Vice-President Dick Cheney met with the Saudi King. US crude prices are likely to fall toward $90 this spring as the country's slowing economic growth encourages traders to exit commodity markets, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said in a report on March 20.
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