Saudi Arabia to hike oil output to meet rising demand

Saudi Arabia aims to increase crude production in the coming months to meet mounting customer demand, S&P Global Platts reported, citing energy minister Khalid Al-Falih.

The Kingdom's September output is already higher than August's level of about 10.4 million barrels per day (mbd), Al-Falih said at a meeting of an OPEC/non-OPEC monitoring committee in Algiers on Sunday.

"October will be even higher," he said, adding that Saudi Arabia's production levels were "dictated by customer demand, not to influence prices."

"If demand [for Saudi crude] is 10.9 mbd you can certainly take it to the bank that we will meet it. But the demand is 10.5 mbd or 10.6 mbd. I think October will be more than this."

On Friday, US President Donald Trump’s called upon OPEC to take action to cool the market.

“The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Al Falih admitted that some of Saudi Aramco's customers had already started demanding more barrels on top of their term requirements, which the world's largest oil producer had fulfilled.

He disclosed that the Kingdom was building up its crude inventories around the world to better address customer anxieties over supply shortfalls.

The country has put crude into storage in Okinawa, Japan; Sidi Kerir, Egypt; and Rotterdam, Netherlands, as well as in domestic tanks, the minister added.