This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Tuesday 19 Jan 2016 - 12:41 Makkah mean time-9-4-1437
Riyadh, (IINA) - Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Sunday that crude prices will rise, and that market forces and cooperation among producing nations will lead in time to renewed stability, Bloomberg reported.
"I am optimistic about the future, the return of stability to the global oil markets, the improvement of prices and the cooperation among the major producing countries", Al-Naimi said during a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
"Market forces, as well as the cooperation among producing nations, always lead to the restoration of stability. This, however, takes some time", he said.
Al-Naimi declined to comment on the removal of economic sanctions against Iran and on whether it could affect crude prices. Iran, freed of curbs on its oil exports, plans to boost shipments by 1 million barrels a day this year.
The Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, abandoned limits on output on December 4 amid efforts to squeeze higher-cost producers such as Russia and U.S. shale drillers out of the market. The decision contributed to a global glut and led to a further drop in prices. Saudi Arabia produced 10.25 million barrels a day in December, up 750,000 barrels a day from the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Brent crude dropped by $1.94, or 6.3 percent, to $28.94 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Friday. The benchmark grade also fell by 22 percent this year after tumbling 35 percent in 2015.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, together with non-OPEC producer Mexico have "an especially important role to play", Al-Naimi said in Riyadh at an event with the Mexican president and energy minister. When oil prices plummeted in 1998, Mexico cooperated with the Saudis and other suppliers to restore market stability and boost prices, he said.
"Mexico and the Kingdom have an especially important role to play in achieving this objective, in the past, at the present, and in the future", Al-Naimi said.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on Sunday to cooperate with Mexico in the oil industry, setting up joint ventures and encouraging mutual investments.
AG/IINA
|
No comments:
Post a Comment