Both producers and consumers are happy with current crude oil prices and fundamentals, top exporter Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday, adding that given the balance speculators should leave the market alone. “You know my desire is that people leave the market alone,” al-Naimi told Reuters in an interview in Seoul. “You know why? Because everybody now is happy with where the prices are. Nobody is complaining about high prices or low prices.”
“They are no longer sky rocketing or falling down. So I will really leave the market alone.”
Brent surged to a high of $128 a barrel in March this year due to supply concerns as tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme escalated, threatening to derail a nascent global economic recovery.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, responded by boosting output to the highest level in decades to over 10mn bpd in summer. Higher supplies, along with a weak global economic outlook and a slowdown in China have since brought down prices about 15% to near $108 per barrel.
The US benchmark has held steady between $85 and $90 a barrel and Brent between $100 and $110, al-Naimi said, calling the prices stable.
