Saudis want crude prices to stay above $60

Saudi Arabia wants crude prices to remain above $60 and the oil superpower has based its production policy on that target, according to a Western analyst. Between April 2006 and April 2007, the kingdom slashed its oil output by more than one million barrels per day to keep prices above the floor, said Leo Drollas, Deputy Director of the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), which is owned by former Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Al Yamani. When the specter of a US economic recession strengthened early this year, the kingdom tightened its oil taps before it eased them again in March and April following a sharp rise in crude prices. "Saudi Arabia - the world's marginal supplier of crude - is the dominant player in Opec. Its oil production declined sharply in April 2006, rising in July and August 2006 for seasonal... [read full story]