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Washington: The United States and Saudi Arabia agree that high crude oil prices are bad for global economic growth, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday. "I think it's a shared view that very high energy prices are not a good thing for the international economy and for growth," Rice said at a news conference with Prince Saud Al Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister. "We welcome the efforts that Saudi Arabia is making to increase its production in the medium term and to invest in its energy infrastructure," Rice said. The US and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil user and producer, respectively, have entered into a "strategic dialogue" on topics such as energy, security and trade.
Saudi Arabia, the leading producer in Opec, plans to spend $50 billion to boost output capacity by 1.5 million barrels per day to 12.5 million bpd by 2009. However, Saudi Arabia and Opec have not been able to tame soaring crude oil prices, even though the countries are pumping near 30-year highs. Prince Saud said there was no shortage of crude oil globally, and pointed toward tight oil refining capacity. "There is no shortage in the supplies, but on the contrary there is a surplus," Saud said. "There is a shortage with respect to refineries." Prince Saud pledged to work for lower oil prices and said it was "weird" they had risen so high with a surplus of crude available on the market. Prince Saud made his comments after talks with Rice that covered the global energy landscape as well as regional and international issues. The two said in a joint statement that their countries "have a shared strategic interest in secure and stable energy markets and moderate prices that support strong world economic growth." Output: US expects big boost in refining capacity The US expects refiners to boost the fuel production capacity by some 12 per cent in the next few years to help ease a crunch in supplies and reduce dependence on imports, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Thursday. Speaking outside Motiva's refinery in Port Arthur, Texas the site of a proposed massive expansion Bodman said the oil industry already has plans to add 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to refining capacity in coming years, and that number could grow to 2 million bpd as new projects are announced.
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