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29 March 2024

Saudi seeks stable oil price

Published
By Reuters

The world's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia will do all it can to stabilise global oil markets, though geopolitics and speculation as well as fundamentals are behind high prices, the state news agency said yesterday.

"Saudi Arabia looks… with great interest to oil price stability in the global market that will protect the interests of producers and consumers equally and world economic growth, especially in developing countries," the Saudi Press Agency said.

"Saudi Arabia, as the world's biggest oil exporter, has not and will not spare any effort to achieve this aim. Its oil policy aims always to foster and strengthen co-operation and dialogue between oil producing and consuming nations."

It said a meeting of producers and consumers called by Saudi Arabia for tomorrow proved its commitment to market stability despite its conviction that oil prices are determined by "various market supply and demand factors, commercial stock levels in consuming countries and the effect on the oil market of political instability and speculation".

Consumers and producers blame each other for an oil price rally that has sparked protests from Brussels to Bangkok and threatens world economic growth.

Saudi Arabia summoned all sides and chief executives from big oil companies to meet in Jeddah after an unprecedented day of trading sent a shock through the oil market on June 6.

Crude oil price has more than doubled in a year to $140 a barrel, an almost seven fold rise since 2002.

Saudi Arabia will lay on a tour of the expansion of the Khurais field on the second day of the conference, SPA said, reiterating that the plant would be ready by mid-2009 and bring an extra 1.2 million barrels per day online.