06 March 2004 03:41
Saudi Arabia thinks world oil prices are too high
RIYADH. March 6 (Interfax) - Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Ibrahim Naimi believes that the world
oil prices are too high and do not benefit the producers and the consumers.
"I agree with my Russian counterpart, Energy Minister Igor Yusufov, who is afraid of price imbalance. The oil
process are too high at the moment, which is not good for both the producers and the consumes in the long-term,"
Naimi told Interfax on Saturday. Stable oil prices are important for Russia and Saudi Arabia, Naimi said. "The
attitude of Saudi Arabia and Russia to oil prices is very similar. To both countries, long-term stability of oil prices
is important, not long-term gain from their increase," he said.
On Saturday, Naimi met with a Russian delegation, which has arrived in Saudi Arabia to attend the signing of an
agreement on the implementation of the project for the geological exploration of the A gas block. The document will be
signed by Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov and Saudi Aramco President Abdallah Bin Saleh Jamaah.
Block A, which has an area of 29,900 km, is located in the center of Saudi Arabia, in the northern part of the Rub
al-Hali desert. This is the first open tender for the sale of mineral assets conducted by Saudi Arabia over the past
thirty years. Lukoil has received one of the three blocks included in the tender and has set up the company Lukoil Saudi
Arabia Energy Ltd., a joint venture with Saudi Aramco, to work on this block. [RU EEU EUROPE ASIA EMRG SA DIP ENR] av
[Interfax] |
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