(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)Opec had said its overall output surged to 30.79 million barrels per day in March up 810000 bpd from the previous month.
Seoul - Saudi oil minister Ali Al Naimi said his country is producing near record levels of crude in April underscoring the kingdom’s willingness to defend market share at a time when global oil markets have staged a fragile recovery.
There are worries among some producers that growing output from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) could snuff out a recent rebound in oil prices particularly with economic growth in key consumer China the slowest in six years in the first quarter.
Opec had said its overall output surged to 30.79 million barrels per day in March up 810000 bpd from the previous month with demand higher than expected due to lower prices.
Al Naimi said oil production in Saudi Arabia the world’s biggest crude exporter was “around 10 million” bpd in April.
“I have said many times we will always be happy to supply to our customers with what they want. Now they want 10 million” Al Naimi said in an interview in the South Korean capital where he is due to attend a board meeting of the state oil firm Saudi Aramco.
Responding to the comments benchmark Brent crude slipped from early highs to trade under $64 a barrel.
Naimi earlier this month said that Saudi Arabia produced some 10.3 million bpd of crude in March eclipsing a previous high of 10.2 million bpd in August 2013 according to records going back to the early 1980s.
Oil prices have risen around 17 per cent this month pushed up by reports of a possible dip in US output but Morgan Stanley warned on Monday that Saudi production could be more important than developments in the United States.
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