Saudi Arabia says it’s ready to meet any additional oil demand

Published: Dec 30, 2015 8:09 a.m. ET

 

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‘We no longer limit production’: oil minister

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Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi

By

AHMEDAL OMRAN

 

SUMMERSAID

 

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia won't change its current reliable production policy and is ready to meet any additional demand from its customers, the kingdom's oil minister Ali al-Naimi said Wednesday.

“It is a reliable policy and we won't change it,” Naimi told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Riyadh.

“We will satisfy the demand of our customers. We no longer limit production. If there is demand, we will respond. We have the capacity to respond to demand,” he said.

Oil futures were sharply lower Wednesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange CLG6, -2.59%  down 97 cents, or 2.6%, at $36.90 a barrel, while February Brent crude LCOG6, -2.12%  on London’s ICE Exchange fell 80 cents, or 2.1%, to $36.98 a barrel.

Read an expanded version of this story at WSJ.com.