Oil price might rise "reasonably" - Saudi king in paper

Friday 25th of December 2009 11:00:22 PM


Oil price might rise "reasonably" - Saudi king in paper




Oil prices are stabilising and might even rise "reasonably," Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah was quoted as saying by a Kuwaiti newspaper.

The top OPEC oil exporter reiterated it saw a fair oil price between $75 and $80 per barrel, King Abdullah told the daily al-Seyassah in an interview.

"We expected at the start of the year oil prices between $75 and $80 a barrel, this is a fair price...Oil prices are heading towards stability and might rise reasonably," he said.

On Thursday, U.S.oil crude futures rose $1.38 to $78.05.

The Saudi economy was in "excellent shape" and the global financial crisis had had only a limited impact on the member of the leading G20 countries, King Abdullah added.

"The Saudi economy is still growing, not fast but without decline.We have a lively economy, be it the government or private sector," he said, adding that foreign investments to the kingdom had risen despite global turmoil.

Saudi Arabia's GDP in real terms edged up 0.15 percent in 2009, the finance ministry said on Monday.

The Saudi sovereign wealth fund had not been affected by global turmoil, he said, without elaborating.Most foreign assets are managed by the country's central bank.

The 2010 budget, which sees investments rising by 16 percent to 260 billion riyals ($69 billion), would have a positive impact on the economy, he said in the interview to be published on Saturday, of which Reuters got an advance copy on Friday.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Eman Goma; Editing by Charles Dick, Leslie Gevirtz)

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