Saudi Arabia
Le dinamiche di prezzo, peseranno in prospettiva e non poco sugli andamenti dell' economia mondiale...e non è detto che sia necessariamente in peggio sempre che venga gestito in modo +/- adeguato...
A seguire una intervista da Wsj del Ministro del Petrolio Ali NAimi
VIENNA -- Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, said Wednesday the recent rise in oil prices was a "function of optimism" over early signs of global economic recovery.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, sometimes billed as the world's top oil official because of the kingdom's pumping and export prowess, said customers in Asia and the U.S. had recently started asking for additional crude to satisfy a rise in industrial demand.
"You bet we're seeing [added demand] from some of our customers for more oil and we're providing it," Mr. Naimi told reporters during a 45-minute walk in the Austrian capital. "There is a lot of optimism in what I am saying because I see the recovery coming," said Mr. Naimi, who often fields questions from a pack of reporters while he exercises.
After months of trepidation following the plunge in crude prices and sharp reductions in oil production, Mr. Naimi's comments mark his most optimistic reading of the global oil market since 2008 and come a day before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna to review its oil-production policy.
Mr. Naimi called on OPEC to keep production steady, a call other ministers are echoing. With prices up at a six-month high of $63 a barrel, OPEC doesn't want to saddle consumers with even higher energy costs and jeopardize economic recovery by cutting even more production.
Mr. Naimi added that oil prices could top $75 a barrel in the coming months as bulging crude inventory starts to fall and demand recovers. In recent trading, Nymex crude was up about 40 cents at $62.85 a barrel.
The 12-nation OPEC, which supplies about 40% of the 83 million barrels consumed globally each day, has in the past months implemented its biggest-ever production cuts under its production-quota system. The cartel has axed output by about 3.4 million barrels a day out of plans announced late last year to reduce supply by 4.2 million barrels a day. The cuts have helped fuel the recent increase in crude prices.
Oil ministers have an interest in talking up prices and all OPEC member states' economies have been hammered by the plunge in crude prices since last summer and by producing a lot less oil. Crude prices are still down more than 60% from a record high of $147 a barrel last July.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are expected to see their economies contract slightly this year for the first time in many years. The economies of other OPEC members, such as Venezuela, are in even worse shape, according to the International Monetary Fund.
But as one of OPEC's moderate voices -- and with many of the world's biggest oil consumers, including large energy companies and national governments such as China, as its customers -- Saudi Arabia is well placed to weigh-in on tentative signs of budding oil consumption.
Mr. Naimi, the kingdom's oil chief since 1995, didn't provide any hard figures on exactly how much added crude Saudi was providing to some of the country's roughly 70 customers. Saudi Arabia is producing just under eight million barrels a day, roughly in line with recent months and with its OPEC quota, he said.
Mr. Naimi also noted, as he has in recent days, that it would take many months for oil-market fundamentals to recover despite encouraging signs in recent weeks from customers. Crude inventory is still at a two-decade high and world oil consumption this year is likely to register its biggest drop in nearly 30 years.
"The market is currently out of balance but it's starting to get back in balance ... We see offshoots of recovery, but the offshoots are small," Mr. Naimi said, adding that it is too early to talk of OPEC formally increasing production
