Arab oil ministers are pledging to meet rising demand as crude oil prices hit historic highs around $53 a barrel.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an oil meeting Sunday in Abu Dhabi, the Saudi oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said there will be no shortage of oil, and that his country will maintain a cushion of extra production capacity up to two million barrels per day. But he warned that consumer nations must upgrade their refineries to be able to handle the additional (sour) crude oil being offered.
Kuwait's oil minister, Sheik Ahmed Fahd al-Sabah, said his country will increase production capacity by 200,000 barrels per day by December.
But the Kuwaiti minister added that soaring oil prices do not reflect a shortage in supplies, blaming instead psychological and political factors.