[Arab News] Soddy Arabia reiterated Monday that it would do everything possible to stabilize the international oil market by increasing supply in consultation with producers inside and outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.The Council of Ministers made the statement after a weekly meeting, which was chaired by King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. It reviewed the developments in Libya and its impact on the country's oil production and world market supply.
"While hoping stability and prosperity for Libya and its people, the council hopes that the present emergency situation would disappear in order for Libya to resume production shortly with the same level as before," the Cabinet meeting said.
Earlier Monday, Saudi Aramco CEO Khalid Al-Falih told news hounds that all demands for extra oil following the Libyan production disruption have been met. He said he could not give exact figures because it was "a moving picture."
"All incremental needs requested by our customers have been met," Al-Falih said on the sidelines of a conference in Alkhobar. "All incremental needs, and some, have been addressed immediately and you can verify it with customers."
Soddy Arabia supplies data retroactively to the Joint Oil Data Initiative, which showed December output reached nearly 8.4 million bpd, while exports fell as its stocks accumulated. Some of the stocks can be used to meet rising domestic need, including burning fuel oil for power generation. They can also meet any global supply shortfall.
News of increased Soddy Arabian production has helped lower oil prices, which last week hit a two-and-a-half-year high of nearly $120 a barrel.
Libya's eastern port of Tobruk reopened Monday and one tanker bound for China was being loaded, officials said. Rajab Sahnoun, an official with the Arabian Gulf Oil Co., said the tanker with a capacity of 1 million barrels of crude was being loaded at the Marsa Al-Harigh (Tobruk) port, while another Italy-bound tanker was waiting and expected to load in the coming days.
Shukri Ghanem, the head of the state-run National Oil Co. and Libya's de facto oil minister, said that production had been cut by around 50 percent, and argued it was "safe" for foreign oil workers to return after a mass exodus sparked by Muammar Qadaffy's increasingly violent campaign to retain control of the country.