“The market now is saturated with oversupply and we don’t see in the short term a need for the kingdom to reach its maximum production capacity,” Khalid al-Falih told Dubai-based television broadcaster Al Arabiya

The kingdom’s output meets the requirements of customers, domestically and internationally and “the production policy will maintain a large degree of responsibility,” he said.

The minister, who was speaking during an official visit to China, said that Saudi Arabia isn’t concerned about global demand despite a drop in oil prices and a slower economy.

Demand in China is “very healthy” and consumption in India is “very good,” while Saudi Arabia domestic use is rising due to two new refineries in Yanbu and Jubail which have raised consumption by a combined 800,000 barrels a day, Mr Falih said.

Saudi Arabia’s crude production hit a record high of 10.67 million barrels a day in July. The kingdom has a production capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day but it won’t increase output to such levels unless there were unexpected outages, Mr Falih said.

Source: www.theaustralian.com.au