Saudi Arabia could raise crude production by more than a million barrels a day immediately, said the kingdom’s Deputy Crown Prince, as he reiterated the nation would only agree to freeze production if all major producers including Iran do the same.
The world’s largest oil exporter could increase output to 11.5 MMbpd immediately and go to 12.5 million in six to nine months “if we wanted to,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the king’s son, second in line to the throne and a leading force in the country’s economic policy and also chairman of the Supreme Council of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said in an interview Thursday. The country pumped 10.2 MMbopd last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
If the kingdom chose to increase investment in its oil industry, total production capacity could be increased to 20 MMbopd, the prince said,
“I don’t suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more, we can produce 20 MMbopd if we invested in production capacity, but we can’t produce beyond 20 million.Saudi Arabia is producing below its potential capacity because it only responds to demand” the Prince said. “If we produced more oil than there is demand, we would destroy many markets. So we consider supply and demand, and we look at any demand we receive and we deal with it.”
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