Saudi Arabia is producing near record levels of crude in April as demand from China is expected to remain steady, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday.
According to al-Naimi oil production in April stood at “around 10 million” barrels of oil per day. Speaking in an interview in the South Korean capital Seoul, where he is due to attend a board meeting of Saudi Aramco, the Saudi oil minister commented:Â
“I have said many times we will always be happy to supply to our customers with what they want. Now they want 10mn.”
The statement comes less than a month after al-Naimi told reporters that Saudi production hit record high of 10.3mn bpd of crude in March, eclipsing a previous high of 10.2mn bpd in August 2013, accoridng to data compiled by Reuters.
Saudi Arabia’s stance on keeping production high has once again been seen as as a move to maintain its own and OPEC’s market share amid rising shale output from the U.S.
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Meanwhile, demand from Saudi Arabia’s biggest importer China slowed down leading to a further slump in the oil prices. Nontheless, the Asian economic powerhouse remains Saudi’s biggest market and al-Naimi says this will continue to be the case.
“We have seen no change in oil demand. We are still supplying the same volume as we have been supplying for some time.”
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“I believe demand over time will continue to grow. We are very positive in that sense. There is absolutely no concern from our side. We haven’t seen any change since the prices changed,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia’s supply to China topped 1mn bpd.
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