No cheap oil, says Saudi

RULED OUT: Saudi Arabia has said it is not prepared to sell its oil at a discounted rate to help calm the market. (Getty Images)

Top exporter Saudi Arabia is not prepared to sell its oil at a discounted rate to calm the market, but is willing to provide as much as its customers need, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Tuesday.

The influential Saudi oil minister does not like record oil prices above $143 a barrel, but said the kingdom would not cut the price of its crude. A barrel of Saudi benchmark Arab Light is selling for about $140 a barrel into the United States.

"That's not how the market works," Al-Naimi said on the sidelines of an energy conference.

"We have said more than once we don't like these high prices... We have nothing to do with where the price is today."

Riyadh has already promised to raise output to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) this month in response to higher demand, marking an increase of 550,000 bpd since May.

He repeated that oil's level did not reflect the fundamentals of supply and demand.

"There is no relationship between what's happening to the price and what's happening in the physical market," he said. (Reuters)

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