Saudi Arabia Will Pump More Oil In Future To Curb Crude Prices

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (AHN) - Saudi King Abdullah offered to slightly increase oil production to curb soaring prices globally.

An emergency energy summit meeting convened on Sunday aimed at defusing market tensions led by higher crude prices as demand of oil in Asian region has increased.

Saudi Arabia is considered as a top player in Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The current efforts is a follow up request by the U.s. President George W. Bush, who had asked the oil producing nations including Saudis to pump more oil in his visit to Riyadh in January.

During President Bush's last meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, the leader had dismissed the possibility of raising oil producing to help reducing the record setting fuel prices.

But it seems that Saudi Arabia, which dominates the oil producers' group, has realized that the global financial market has been badly affected over rising demand from Asia even though higher fuel prices have prompted U.S. consumers to cut down on gasoline usage.

Being the world's largest oil-producing country, Saudi Arabia's oil minister had indicated that it will increase production rate by about 500,000 barrels per day. Saudi Arabia raised its oil production by 300,000 barrels a day in the month of May, while the delegates from the oil ministry confirmed that they would add another 200,000 barrels a day in July.

The hike in crude production will raise its current levels to 9.7 million barrels per day in the next month.

The U.S. markets along with global economies have suffered due to the higher oil prices that had reached a record high to $140 a barrel.

Over the past 12 months, oil rates have gone up by 80 percent, pushing gasoline prices along with goods and food rates as the U.S. economy deals with rising risks of steep inflation.

The rally in energy prices continued during the week, raising warnings for the eleven leading oil consumers as the global economies weaken due to subprime mortgage turmoil in the U.S. markets.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, addressing the 36-nation summit hosted in its Red Sea city of Jeddah on Sunday, blamed the speculators and analysts for the hiked up prices of oil.