Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said they are taking significant measures to sustain oil market stability and prices at a time of regional tensions.
In his speech during the International Petroleum Technology Conference held Monday, he furthered that the Kingdom’s oil production will pump more than 9 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first two months of 2020.
“We would like to have a stable oil market, sustainable growth in terms of demand, sustainable growth in terms of supply,” the minister said.
Many fear that the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on January 3 would result in deeper tensions that might destroy Saudi’s oil facilities and ships just like what happened in the previous missile attacks.
In September last year, crude production was cut by half following the explosion of drones and missiles, blamed on Iran, that struck Saudi’s energy industry.
“When the kingdom’s oil facilities were attacked several months ago, we acted quickly and have maintained stability of oil supplies and that’s what counts for consumers,” the minister said adding that they were also able “to protect the economy.”
He
reassured that amid growing tensions in their region, “Saudi Arabia will
continue to do all it can do to ensure stable oil markets.”
When asked about the plans of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) to curb productions, Prince Abdulaziz said it was too early to discuss related matters as the deal will just expire on March.
The OPEC+ group has prior agreed to get control over yield by an extra 500,000 bpd in the first quarter of 2020, over a recently concurred decrease of 1.2 million bpd.
