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To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (44821)	5/15/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 95453

Saudi Arabia: Government seeks $18-$20 oil price range - Financial Times, May 13 By Roula Khalaf in Beirut Saudi Arabia wants average oil prices to reach a range of $18 to $20 a barrel by the end of this year and is holding consultations with other oil producers to ensure prices stabilise in this range, Ali Ibrahim Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, said yesterday. Speaking at an Arab capital markets conference in Beirut, Mr Naimi said the kingdom and other Gulf producers would defend such a price range but admitted this would require great restraint. Saudi Arabia played the leading role in getting members of the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (Opec) to agree on production cuts last March, a move that allowed oil prices to recover. June Brent was yesterday trading around $15.60 a barrel, while June US crude prices were at $17.57. Mr Naimi said growth in world demand for oil was such that the Arab world would be required to double current production of 20m b/d by 2020 and the question today was how the oil resource would be used to improve the lot of Arab countries. Earlier this year, the kingdom was believed to have threatened some Opec members that unless production cuts to shore up prices were agreed, it might flood the oil markets and put marginal high cost producers out of business in an effort to gain greater market share. Mr Naimi, however, yesterday ruled out any such moves, insisting this would be detrimental for large oil producers such as Saudi Arabia. "This would be easy to do, but what would it accomplish? It is an unacceptable alternative; the benefit of increasing prices far outweighs that of increasing production." He said that every $1 increase in the oil price added $4bn in income to Gulf producers. Instead of such strategies, he said, "we have to take the initiative and convince others to co-operate and maintain the restraint to keep the stability of the market". Mr Naimi said international oil companies, at the request of Crown Prince Abdullah, had now presented proposals for investment in the kingdom. These proposals would be studied in coming months, he said.