Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is in active talks with European refiners to replace any shortage of Libyan oil supplies, a senior Saudi oil official said Thursday.

"Saudi are currently in talks with European companies to find out what they need in terms of quality and quantity," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.

Earlier Thursday, the official said state-giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, can provide crude of the same quality to the market once it receives requests from oil companies in Europe due to the Libya disruptions.

"We can either supply the crude through our East-West pipeline to the Mediterranean and then to Europe , or we can do swap with West African crude," the official said, describing how a Saudi release could offset lost crude from Libya .

Should the Saudis opt for a swap with West African crude, supplies from Nigeria and Angola would be redirected to Europe instead of Asia , while the kingdom's extra oil will replace the West African supplies.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said this week that Saudi Arabia has 4 million barrels of spare capacity.

The Saudi official added that the current oil price surge is not justified and caused by fear, and that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries sees no need yet for an emergency meeting before June.

Oil prices retreated somewhat from earlier highs Thursday, but were still higher on the day. At 1210 GMT, the front-month April Brent contract on London 's ICE futures exchange was up $3.43, or 3.1%, at $114.68 a barrel. The front-month April contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading $2.58, or 2.6%, higher at $100.68 a barrel. Nymex futures are up 16.8% since Friday, while Brent is up 11.5%.

Earlier, Brent prices had hit $119.79 on rumors of a anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia.Prices quickly fell back as fears of a Saudi insurrection faded, but the gains weren't entirely erased as Libya 's crisis worsened.

Διαβάστε ακόμα