Al Naimi confident prices will recover

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi is confident the oil prices will recover.

“I am confident that oil markets will recover... and that oil prices will improve,” Al Naimi told an energy forum in Abu Dhabi.

He said the sharp drop in prices was partly due to the “lack of cooperation by main producing countries outside the Opec, misleading information and speculators’ greed”.

The oil minister said producers from outside the group would eventually “realise the importance of cooperation to secure new fair prices”.

He predicted that “high-cost producers will not continue to increase production”, in a clear reference to shale and sand oil output from North America.

“Current prices do not encourage investment in any form of energy, but they stimulate global economic growth, leading ultimately to an increase in global demand and a slowdown in the growth of supplies,” he said.

The oil minister also denied politics played a role in the kingdom’s oil policy. He said the drop in oil price would not have “a noticeable and big” impact on the economies of Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries.

He said: “The talk about conspiracy by Saudi Arabia for political motives... is baseless and shows a lack of understanding.”

Al Naimi said the oil policy is based on a strict economic basis, nothing more, nothing less.

He dismissed claims of a Saudi “plot” to push prices down for political goals, insisting that the kingdom’s policy is “based on pure economic principles”.

“Recently, certain analyses and articles have spoken of a politically motivated Saudi plot, using oil and its prices against this country or that... This is baseless,” he said.