[Goldfisch]

Saudi prince wants oil at $25-$30

Prince Abdullah said Saudi will pump as much as possible to cool markets, avoid world economic harm.
August 16, 2004: 7:27 AM EDT

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's de facto ruler, wants to see world oil prices between $25-$30 a barrel and said Riyadh will pump "as much as fields allow" to cool off overheated markets.

In an interview published Monday in Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah and its sister publication the Arab Times, Abdullah said the world's top crude exporter already is pumping oil at "record levels."

"We never wanted the price to cross the $30 barrier...we see that prices should fluctuate between $25 to $30 a barrel so that countries are not hurt," he said.

Abdullah's comments are the clearest signal yet that the biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is pushing hard to bring down prices that could prove harmful to fuel demand by slowing world economic growth.

The crown prince did not specify which crude price he was referring to, but officials from OPEC countries generally refer to the cartel's reference index, which last stood at $41.33.

That implies the kingdom wants to see oil prices drop by more than $10-15 a barrel from current levels. Benchmark U.S. oil futures, worth a premium over heavier OPEC crude, on Monday traded as high as $46.91 a barrel, a new record.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said last week the kingdom's production had risen to an average 9.3 million barrels per day (bpd) during the past three months and that crude requirements for September were at least that high.

Abdullah said the kingdom would pump "as much as our fields will allow in order to curb prices," and Western oil industry sources said they see Saudi output near 10 million bpd next month.

"We are doing our best to slow down this trend by increasing our production which is at record high levels," said the crown prince. "We can only increase our production, the rest is not in our hands."

Naimi said last week Riyadh had 1.3 million bpd of production to spare and the crown prince also made clear that Riyadh stood ready to boost production higher.

"We have the capacity to meet the demands of the market and I assure you we have nothing to do with this price increase," he said.

Abdullah placed the blame for the price spike with oil companies.

"I'd like to affirm that the current price rise in this form has nothing to do with us," he said. "Major companies who deal in oil are responsible."