WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia is expected to fall short of its crude oil
output targets.
A leading analyst said Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state oil
company, would fail to meet its production targets. Matthew Simmons, chairman of
Simmons & Co International, raised the prospect that Aramco would fail to
overcome dwindling reserves in the Saudi kingdom.
"I'm dubious they can hit their targets,'' Simmons told a Houston
conference sponsored by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas last
week. "If they had hit their targets, they would be more forthcoming.''
Simmons has argued that Saudi Arabia and other oil producers were
withholding data while exaggerating their reserves. Aramco has pledged to
increase Saudi oil output from 11.3 million to 12.5 million barrels of oil
per day by 2009, Middle East Newsline reported.
In Washington, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Saudi
Arabia could increase oil output to meet rising demand. Ms. Lagarde met
Saudi officials during the annual meetings by the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank.
