will the climate last that long folks?
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Saudi Arabia Has Enough Crude for 80 Years, Naimi Says (Update1)
2010-11-01 13:40:30.447 GMT
(Updates with comment in second paragraph.)
By Christian Schmollinger
Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil
supplier, has the capacity to produce crude for the next 80
years even without additional discoveries, Oil Minister Ali al-
Naimi said in a speech in Singapore.
"With 264 billion barrels of proven reserves, at current
production levels, the kingdom could continue to supply crude
oil for another 80 years even if we never find another barrel,"
al-Naimi said today at the Singapore Energy Summit. "However,
we are finding those new barrels."
Saudi Arabia is adding reserves equal to the amount it is
extracting each year, al-Naimi said. State-run Saudi Arabian Oil
Co. last year completed a capital spending program of more than
$100 billion, the biggest in its history, the minister said.
Saudi Aramco maintains spare production capacity near 4
million barrels a day, Chief Executive Officer Khalid al Falih
said in September. The country pumped 8.23 million barrels a day
in October, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Government policy focused on green energy is hurting the
competitiveness of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, al-
Naimi said. While the focus "unlevels the playing field,"
fossil fuels will have to "bridge the gap" until green energy
is affordable, he said.
For Related News and Information:
For OPEC news: NI OPEC <GO>
News on oil markets: NI OILMARKET <GO>
Top energy, oil stories: ETOP <GO> and OTOP <GO>
News on oil inventories: TNI OIL INV <GO>
Global Energy Statistics: ENST <GO>
--Editors: Alexander Kwiatkowski, Jonas Bergman
To contact the reporter on this story:
Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at +65-6212-1898 or
christian.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or
crussell7@bloomberg.net.
