Nearly 18 months before, it was al-Naimi who pushed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to leave output unchanged.
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Domestic demand during the Saudi Arabian summer will cause a slight increase in burning of liquids for power generation, he said, adding that Aramco’s average crude output in 2015 was 10.2 million barrels per day. “Prices will trend higher when that happens”.
The news comes as markets are only just beginning to digest last Saturday’s ousting of Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, previously known as the most powerful man in oil and Saudi Arabia’s oil minister for over 20 years.
“Saudi Arabia will maintain its stable petroleum policies”.
“We remain committed to maintaining our role in worldwide energy markets and strengthening our position as the world’s most reliable supplier of energy”, said Falih who now heads an expanded energy, industry and mineral resources ministry.
The global cocktail of factors helped push Brent, the worldwide crude benchmark, up 1.63% to $46.11 for July cargoes and its US counterpart West Texas Intermediate up by 2.08% to $45.59 for June cargoes.
Major oil producers failed to reach an agreement on freezing output in Qatar last month as Saudi Arabia insisted any deal must include all OPEC members, including rival Iran which boycotted the talks.
Al-Falih will give up his current post as the minister of health, according to Reuters.
That policy is also closely linked to its rivalry with Iran, which is seeking to regain market share after its crude exports were limited during years of sanctions that were recently lifted, he noted.
Al-Naimi has always been a pillar of Saudi oil policy, leading the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources since 1995.
Nasser said he expected a balance in supply and demand in world markets “toward the end of the year, (or the) first quarter next year”.
OPEC holds another meeting in June. And he expects prices to start rising by early 2017.
Analysts say Saudi Arabia’s goal is to maintain its global market share.
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Saudi Aramco is considered to be world’s leading oil company, with an estimated valuation of $2 trillion. The prince is letting the market dictate prices, with Saudi Arabia only adjusting its production to respond to demand. Khalid al-Falih, head of a new super Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, is a believer of reform and low oil prices. The cartel, once a mighty organisation capable of roiling the global economy by keeping oil prices high, seem to have become largely ineffective.
