Saudi Arabia Assures Comfortable Oil Supply

Saudi Arabia has said that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will not only maintain the oil supply at a comfortable level but also try to maintain oil prices at around $25 a barrel.

This assurance, which was held out by Saudi petroleum minister Ali Naimi at the recently-concluded conference of World Petroleum Congress at Shanghai in China, has come as a great relief to India since it imports 7.5 million tonne of crude oil from Saudi Arabia.

Briefing newsmen on his China visit, petroleum minister Ram Naik said that Opec was also considering extending credit period for purchases by developing countries. So far, only 30 days