Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi sat down with MEES on 21 December in Abu Dhabi and gave his fullest explanation yet of Saudi thinking in pushing for an OPEC rollover on 27 November. The following is the full text of the interview.
Ali Naimi’s Key Points:
High efficiency producing countries are the ones that deserve market share. That is the operative principle in all capitalist countries.
If the price falls, it falls, you cannot do anything about it. But if it goes down, others will be harmed greatly before we feel any pain.
It is unfair of you to ask Opec to cut. We are the smallest producer. We produce less than 40% of global output. We are the most efficient producer.
It is not in the interest of Opec producers to cut their production, whatever the price is.
Opec was not established just to defend prices. Opec’s charter is clear. It seeks stability of the oil market.
A deficit will occur. But we have no debt. We can go to the banks.
They are full. We can go and borrow money, and keep our reserves. Or we can use some of our reserves.