RIYADH--Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is currently producing
around 10 million barrels of crude a day and sees no need to
increase its output capacity beyond 12.5 million barrels per day,
its oil minister said Sunday.
At 10 million barrels a day, Saudi Arabia is producing the most
crude oil since July, when oil prices began a historic collapse.
The country averaged about 9.7 million barrels a day in the second
half of 2014.
Saudi Arabia's oil production levels are closely monitored
because it is the biggest oil exporter in the world and arguably
the strongest voice in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries. It led a push in November to maintain production within
OPEC to grab market share instead of propping up prices with cuts
in output.
Saudi Arabia's top oil official Ali Al-Naimi didn't specify if
the figure was a monthly average. He told reporters on the
sidelines of a conference in Riyadh that he was optimistic about
the outlook of the oil market.
Earlier Sunday, the oil minister told the conference that there
was no conspiracy behind the OPEC decision to maintain its
production ceiling. He said the group could have lost market share
if it had cut its production.
"There is no conspiracy and we tried to correct all the things
that have been said but nobody listens," Mr. Naimi said. "We are
not against anybody, we are with whoever wants to maintain market
stability and the balance between supply and demand," he said,
adding that price is decided by the market.
Write to Ahmed al-Omran @ahmed.alomran@wsj.com and Summer Said
at summer.said@wsj.com
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