Saudi Arabia, under
U.S. pressure to increase its oil output amid soaring energy prices,
said Friday it had raised production by 300,000 barrels per day on
May 10 and that increase was sufficient.
Oil Minister Ali
Naimi told reporters at a news conference that the increase, which
came in response to customers' requests, would push output from the
world's leading producer to 9.45 million barrels per day by June. He
said Saudi Arabia is capable of meeting the needs of all its
customers, suggesting it would raise production further only in
response to demand.
The announcement coincided with a Saudi
visit by U.S. President George W. Bush to appeal for a more
significant increase in output that might help bring down the price
of oil. The price topped $127 a barrel Friday, a record high.
"Supply and demand are in balance today," the Saudi
oil minister said. "How much does Saudi Arabia need to do to
satisfy people who are questioning our oil practices and policies?"
He said the Saudis increased production by 300,000 barrels
per day on May 10 after about 50 customers around the world requested
it. He added most of the requests came from the U.S.
Naimi
also said that in the future if there was a need to increase oil
production, then Saudi Arabia has no objection to doing so. He also
said Saudi officials spoke to Bush about production and told him the
kingdom's policy is to respond to the customers' demands.
Bush's
national security adviser told reporters earlier that Saudi Arabia's
leaders made clear during the president's visit they see no reason to
increase oil production further until customers demand it.
"Saudi
Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that
they are not able to satisfy," Stephen Hadley said.
"What
the Saudis wanted to tell us was 'We're doing everything we can do
... to meet this problem, but it's a complicated problem."'
Saudi Arabia, which has the world's largest oil reserves, has
in the past acknowledged the ability to produce as much as 11 million
barrels a day.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who
spoke at the same news conference, said he understands Bush's
concerns for the U.S. economy, which is suffering in part from rising
energy prices.
"We do sympathize with him over this
issue and we do what we can do to support the international economy
with the increase (in oil production) that it needs," he said.
Hadley also said the Saudis briefed Bush again on their plan
to increase their production capacity over time. They also argued
that even an increase would be unlikely to bring down the soaring
prices, driven more by uncertainty in the market, lack of refining
capacity for the type of oil readily available and other complicated
dynamics, he said.