Saudis say oil needs to be at $60-$75

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Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said March 16 that petroleum-producing countries need a price of at least $60 a barrel to bring more energy resources on the market.

“If we want all hydrocarbon resources developed worldwide, 40 dollars is not enough,” Ali al-Naimi told reporters in Geneva, where he was attending an energy conference.

Crude oil returns are key, he said, because they can allow companies and countries to invest in new and potentially valuable fuel source such as ethanol, tar sands and heavy oils. To develop these industries, the oil price will have to rise to a range between $60 and $75 a barrel, al-Naimi said.

Crude oil prices fell near $44 a barrel in Asia March 16 after OPEC decided not to cut production levels at a Vienna meeting over the weekend. They were as high as $147 a barrel only eight months ago.

Al-Naimi said fossil fuels will continue to play a vital role in satisfying the world’s energy demands, supplying as much as 80 percent of the world’s fuel “for at least the next few decades.”

But he said oil-rich nations should invest in making production more efficient and environmentally sustainable.

“There is no excuse to pin our hopes only on alternatives, which today are just supplemental energies, when it comes to optimizing our energy future,” he said.

—The Associated Press