Ali Al Naimi News

Oil prices fell 4 percent on Tuesday after Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi ruled out any production cuts, restating the kingdom's rationale for maintaining output was that demand would pick up excess crude that has crushed prices over the past 20 months. Big oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia have proposed to freeze output at January levels, which were near record highs, only if other producers also do the same. More meetings on the potential freezes will be held in March, al-Naimi told the IHS CERAweek conference in Houston, adding that he expects most of the countries that count to freeze crude production levels. Analysts remain skeptical that the cuts will be effective in rebalancing the market.

Asian refiners shift towards cheaper Mideast oil, naphtha-trade; U.S. light oil exports to Asia only started 4 months ago. U.S. exports now going to Europe instead. An aggressive strategy by Mideast Gulf producers to exploit the lowest oil prices in five years to defend market share is showing signs of bearing fruit as U.S. crude exports to Asia grind to halt. Asian refineries have suspended imports of condensate, a light crude oil produced from the U.S. shale boom, just four months after they began in favour of cheaper Middle East grades, according to trade and industry sources. The suspension illustrates how competition between suppliers has heated up following a more than 40 percent decline in oil prices since June.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich, has confirmed that the 21st World Petroleum Congress will be held in Moscow from 15 – 19 June 2014. The congress will be the largest international event in the global oil and gas industries. Dr. Over 500 other industry leaders and decision makers. The recent geopolitical situation in Ukraine, including sanctions and other macroeconomic and political factors, could have a strong impact on the world’s oil and gas markets. Although they do not adversely affect the Congress itself under the current scenarios, important discussions on the development of the entire energy sector and wide-ranging industry announcements are expected to take place at the Congress.

Saudi Oil Minister has said the kingdom would be happy with a an oil price of US$ 100 per barrel Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi has said the kingdom wants an oil price of around $100 a barrel and would like to see global inventories rise before demand picks up in the second half of the year, Reuters has reported. "We want a price around $100, that's what we want," Naimi told reporters ahead of an industry event in Australia. "A $100 price is great." Naimi said last week that producers were pumping enough to deal with the impact of the sanctions on the oil market. He reiterated that producers were pumping 1.3m barrels per day (bpd) to 1.5m bpd above demand, which is helping to build inventory.

Yesterday (April 27), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council co-hosted a conference on “U.S.-Saudi Relations and Global Energy Security.” At this conference, as he has stated recently in other venues, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali al-Naimi, stated that, “There is no general shortage of crude oil in today's market -- supplies are readily available.” The Saudi Arabian minister pointed to the “balkanized gasoline markets” and a shortage in U.S. refining capacity as reasons why gasoline prices are high in the United States. But the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, Kyle McSlarrow, stated at the same conference that crude oil prices are “the driver” in the recent rise in gasoline prices.

OPEC has seemingly bowed to U.S. pressure for cheaper oil by agreeing to higher output limits, immediately agreeing to turn up the taps by 1.45 million barrels daily, or seven percent. Iran, OPEC’s second largest producer, opted out of the deal, saying it feared a price plunge and complaining about interference from Washington. The action, which has been anticipated given the strong political pressures placed on the OPEC ministers, immediately sent petroleum prices into a tailspin, with Brent futures dropping $1.26 to $24.25 per barrel. OPEC won applause from the Clinton administration, which said there was now no need to release national emergency supplies to ease election year political pressure from consumers irate at high gasoline prices.

OPEC has seemingly bowed to U.S. pressure for cheaper oil by agreeing to higher output limits, immediately agreeing to turn up the taps by 1.45 million barrels daily, or seven percent. Iran, OPEC's second largest producer, opted out of the deal, saying it feared a price plunge and complaining about interference from Washington. The action, which has been anticipated given the strong political pressures placed on the OPEC ministers, immediately sent petroleum prices into a tailspin, with Brent futures dropping $1.26 to $24.25 per barrel. OPEC won applause from the Clinton administration, which said there was now no need to release national emergency supplies to ease election year political pressure from consumers irate at high gasoline prices.

Oil prices marched boldly along near 32-month highs last week after key OPEC exporters said output cuts should be kept in place until March next year. On Sept. 14 Benchmark Brent blend for delivery in October was trading 20 cents firmer at $23.68 a barrel, just four cents off a 32-month high touched the day before. Brokers cautioned that technical factors to do with the expiry Sept. 15 of the October contract on London's futures market had inflated Brent's value. However, they agreed the trend was moving in favor of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the producer group of Middle Eastern, Asian, African and Latin American countries responsible for 60 percent of the world's oil exports.

Oil prices rocketed to a new nine-year high Nov. 22 after Iraq suspended oil exports under its humanitarian exchange program with the United Nations. London January Brent futures opened at $25.90, the highest oil price since January 1991 when allied forces were preparing to eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Prices leapt as Iraq's Oil Minister Amir Mohammed Rasheed confirmed that Iraq had stopped oil deliveries under the latest six-month phase of its oil-for-food exchange with the UN. Baghdad protested the UN's proposal to extend by two weeks the sixth phase of the program and accused the United States of trying to push other Security Council members into accepting a draft resolution on weapons inspections.