King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told a news conference recently that Saudi Arabia is not the one to cause soaring oil prices. But pointing his fingers at the speculators as the culprits. The king said Sunday that his kingdom was not to blame for soaring oil prices and instead pointed his finger at speculators, high fuel taxes in consuming countries and increased oil consumption in developing economies.
The king, who opened a high-level oil summit in the port city of Jeddah, said the world's largest oil exporter already had increased its production to 9.7 million barrels a day. Abdullah did not announce any further, specific crude increases.
"In the past few months we have raised our daily production of oil from 9 million barrels to 9.7 (million) barrels," he said. "And we are ready to meet any additional demands in the future."
The U.S. and other Western nations have put increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to increase production, saying insufficient oil production has not kept pace with growing demand.
But Saudi officials have blamed speculation in the oil market and not a shortage of supply for the soaring prices. The king's comments could deepen the rift with Western, consuming countries.
"There are several factors behind the unjustified, swift rise in oil prices and they are: Speculators who play the market out of selfish interests, increased consumption by several developing economies and additional taxes on oil in several consuming countries," the king said.
Abdullah urged the summit's delegates to "uncover the truth" and dispel rumors to get the "real and full reasons" behind the skyrocketing price of oil.
The king, who opened a high-level oil summit in the port city of Jeddah, said the world's largest oil exporter already had increased its production to 9.7 million barrels a day. Abdullah did not announce any further, specific crude increases.
"In the past few months we have raised our daily production of oil from 9 million barrels to 9.7 (million) barrels," he said. "And we are ready to meet any additional demands in the future."
The U.S. and other Western nations have put increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to increase production, saying insufficient oil production has not kept pace with growing demand.
But Saudi officials have blamed speculation in the oil market and not a shortage of supply for the soaring prices. The king's comments could deepen the rift with Western, consuming countries.
"There are several factors behind the unjustified, swift rise in oil prices and they are: Speculators who play the market out of selfish interests, increased consumption by several developing economies and additional taxes on oil in several consuming countries," the king said.
Abdullah urged the summit's delegates to "uncover the truth" and dispel rumors to get the "real and full reasons" behind the skyrocketing price of oil.
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