RIYADH, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia on Friday
gave no concrete promises to visiting U.S. President George W. Bush who is in
the oil-rich kingdom to press for an immediate increase in its oil production to
help tame record oil prices.
On May 10, the kingdom already raised supplies to
customers by increasing oil output of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) and "supply
and demand are in balance today," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told a press
conference, while Bush held talks with King Abdullahbin Abdul-Aziz.
U.S. President George W. Bush (2nd R) is
welcomed upon arrival by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L) in the Royal
Terminal at Riyadh-King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh May 16,
2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Saudi oil output in June would reach 9.45 million bpd
and the kingdom sees fundamentals in oil markets were sound now, Naimi said.
The oil minister, however, promised that "if the need
appears, Saudi Arabia has no objection to producing more."
King Abdullah and President Bush met in the king's
ranch in Al-Jnadreyah, near Riyadh, on bilateral cooperation in all fields. They
signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in nuclear energy and an
agreement on technological cooperation, according to the official SPA news
agency.
They also touched upon issues in the Middle East,
particularly the chronic Palestinian-Israel issue, and conditions in Lebanon and
Iraq, said SPA.
But SPA made no mention of either the oil production
issue, which is widely deemed as an important topic of Bush's visit to the
oil-rich country or the Iran issue.
Bush's visit here came within four months after his
last one, during which he has reportedly asked Saudi Arabia, the world's to poil
exporter to raise oil production to ease high oil prices. But the kingdom
responded that it would increase production only when the market justified it.
Since Bush's last visit, oil prices have jumped about
30 U.S. dollars to a new record of about 127 dollars a barrel on Friday.
Before Bush's Mideast visit, White House spokesman
Scott Stanzel said the U.S. president will express American concerns about
soaring oil prices during his second visit to Saudi Arabia this year.
Bush arrived here after a three-day visit to Israel
on the occasion of the Jewish state's 60th anniversary and will go to Egypt
after his Saudi tour.
WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Bush administration will temporarily halt oil
shipments into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for the rest of this
year, the Energy Department announced Friday.
The government "will not sign contracts this year for the
receipt and transportation of up to 13 million barrels of crude oil to the
nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites," said the department in a statement.
Full story
NEW YORK, May 16
(Xinhua) -- Crude futures soared above 127 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first
time on Friday after investment bank Goldman Sachs raised its oil price
forecast.
Light, sweet crude futures for June delivery rose 2.17
dollars to close at 126.29 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,
after setting a all-time peak of 127.82 dollars a barrel since trading began in
1983. Oil prices have doubled in the past year. Full story
