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Saudi minister committed to oil security
Jennifer Friedlin Associated Press Writer
Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi said he is committed to a stable supply of oil at a price within the target range set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
“We are committed to a price of $25 for the OPEC basket or a $22 to $28 band for the OPEC basket,” Naimi said, referring to OPEC’s reference basket of crudes.
Speaking April 26 at a Foreign Policy Association panel discussion on U.S.-Saudi Arabian relations, Naimi said he didn’t know why global oil prices were so high, because plenty of crude is available. He said the kingdom and OPEC were not to blame for high oil prices.
“It is not because of a shortage of supply of crude,” he said. “There is plenty of crude in the market.”
Prices were near $37 a barrel in New York on April 26.
In recent days, Saudi officials have said a lack of U.S. refining capacity and speculation by investment funds may be behind the price spike. But Naimi said Saudi Arabia would not increase supply to drive down prices. Naimi says Saudis have reserves Naimi also dismissed concerns about Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves, saying the kingdom has 261 billion barrels in known reserves.
“The potential to find more is there and to extract more is there also,” Naimi said. “But let there be no doubt about the reserves in Saudi Arabia. There is really no need for the world to panic about shortages of oil for the next 50 years.”
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has accused President Bush of being too cozy with Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan to insist that the oil-rich Saudis do more to help lower the cost of gasoline in America.
The Bush camp and Bandar deny any undue influence. Bandar said he has talked about oil with Bush just as he has with Bush’s predecessors going back to Jimmy Carter.
The U.S. dependency on foreign oil has compelled all presidents to befriend the Middle Eastern country.
The week of April 19, Kerry used an Earth Day speech to criticize a meeting in which, according to a broadcast report, Bush and Bandar discussed increasing oil production to drive down prices as the presidential election nears.
Bandar has denied any link between the election and a Saudi pledge to the Bush administration to push for lower oil prices.
Naimi also said April 26 that Saudi Arabia would be interested in building two refineries in the United States each capable of turning out 500,000 barrels a day of crude oil.
No refineries have been built in the United States in several years because of community concerns about pollution.
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