Saudi oil minister defends rising oil prices - February 28, 2000

Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industryFebruary 2000

Vol. 5, No. 2

Week of February 28, 2000

Saudi oil minister defends rising oil prices

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi said Feb. 16 that the recent rise in oil prices was "reasonable" in the light of price fluctuatiions over the past 50 years.

"Today's oil price is not extreme," said Naimi, who arrived Feb. 15 for a two-day visit.

Addressing an energy symposium in Tokyo, Naimi said that the average international price of crude oil during the last six months was "a reasonable one."

Oil prices surged above $30 per barrel — a price unseen since the eve of the Persian Gulf War nine years ago —in New York futures trading Feb. 14. A year ago, the price was barely above $11 per barrel.

Analysts have predicted oil prices could go up further if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not start pumping more oil soon to relieve a supply shortage.

Naimi is in Tokyo for talks on renewing Japan's oil concessions in the kingdom's eastern fields.

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