Saudi Arabia feels oil price is ‘too low’

Riyadh: World oil prices have fallen too far, the president of state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday, stressing it was for the market not OPEC producers to shore them up.

“It’s too low for everybody,” Khalid al-Falih told a conference adding, “I think even consumers start to suffer in the long term.” Mr Falih also said American shale oil production is important for the world’s long-term energy future and Saudi Aramco has marked an additional $7 billion for its own shale projects.

Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil company in terms of crude production and exports. It is the leading exporter and top producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. In November, the cartel decided to maintain its output ceiling, deepening the global price drop.