Naimi said Monday that the Kingdom's oil output has jumped to more than 10 million barrels per day, up from an estimated 8.8 million bpd in April. “Saudi Arabia is currently producing more than 10 million bpd,” Al-Naimi said in a speech read on his behalf by his advisor Ibrahim Muhanna at a conference in Riyadh. Al-Naimi said the Kingdom's goal was to “ensure stability” in the oil market and provide sufficient energy supplies to “respond to a shortage in supply or unexpected increase in demand.” He said Saudi Arabia has discovered commercially viable quantities of natural gas in the Red Sea and Empty Quarter, but has no plans to immediately start production. “Although we continue to explore the Kingdom's oil and gas potential resources, this does not mean we will immediately start production from the newly discovered fields, rather it only means determining resources available in the Kingdom for future use when needed,” Muhanna read. The speech also said Saudi Arabia will keep its oil production rates in sync with market requirements and global demand. Saudi Arabia's official OPEC quota is 8.05 million bpd, but the International Energy Agency estimated that its production in April was 8.8 million bpd. Meanwhile, Qatar moved to reassure consumer countries that the Arab Spring will not disrupt supplies from the Gulf. “Events in the Arab region have raised concern over the energy supply ... I would like to stress the commitment made ... to maintain the oil supply,” Qatar's emir said at the opening of the World Petroleum Congress in Doha. “We believe that the supply of energy will overcome the crises of instability in the Arab region,” Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani said. “We in Qatar,” in cooperation with other producers, are working “to maintain our supplies” of energy to consumer countries, he said. Uprisings across several Arab states have slashed Libya's oil production of 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), disrupted Yemeni gas exports and led to a ban on Syrian oil exports due to sanctions over a crackdown on protests.
