Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi: the cartel should not be blamed for sky-rocketing oil prices
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Thursday, that OPEC was committed to meeting the needs of oil consumers regardless of output quotas, adding that the cartel should not be blamed for sky-rocketing U.S. gasoline prices, Reuters reports.
"Regardless of what the ceilings are, the producers are responding to the need of the market to live up to their commitment," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the World Affairs Council in Dallas. "There will be no shortage (of oil)."
Oil prices have been hovering near 13-year highs, with oil dealers fretting over thin inventories and flaring tensions in the Middle East that threaten to further hinder petroleum shipments from the energy rich region.
U.S. gasoline prices have also been zipping along at record levels over $1.80 a gallon, triggering worries that high energy costs could hobble economic growth in the world's largest energy consumer -- a spotlight issue in this election year.
Underscoring that members of the cartel would not strictly enforce their quotas with prices overheating, Naimi said Saudi Arabia's production was running at 8 million bpd, up from its official ceiling of 7.638 million bpd.
He added the kingdom's output could be brought up to 12 million or 15 million bpd using current technologies, "without much difficulty," and run at those levels for 50 years.
