Record oil prices above $145 a barrel are being driven by many factors, but not a shortage of crude, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Thursday.
The oil minister of the world's biggest exporter said the factors were: a large flow of financial money, a weak US dollar, geopolitics, fear the world is running out of fossil fuels and natural disasters.
"Now when you combine all of these and try to figure out what the price will do it will be a difficult task for anybody," he told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference.
Riyadh has 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.
Al-Naimi repeated the kingdom was prepared to pump still more, provided customers were asking for it.
"Today all our buyers are satisfied and happy," he said.
Asked whether oil would hit $150 a barrel, Al-Naimi replied: "If I knew that, I'd be in Las Vegas."
However, Al-Naimi said the kingdom remained concerned about high prices, and noted it was this concern that had prompted Saudi King Abdulah to call an extraordinary meeting of oil producers and consumers in Jeddah last month.
"We are concerned about the level it (oil price) is at today.... There is no supply constraint in today's market," Al-Naimi said.
"Whatever we are seeing in the international oil market is driven by many factors, the least of which is the concern of immediate supply," he added.
Oil jumped to a fresh record high above $145 a barrel on Thursday ahead of the Independence Day holiday in top consumer the United States after a large fall in its crude inventories.
Asked whether the drop in US inventories signalled a tight market, Al-Naimi said: "OECD inventories rose in May by 20 million barrels. Don't take one week's number and take it as a guideline." (Reuters)
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