Saudi Arabia views surging oil prices as “abnormally high” and is willing to do what it can to bring them down, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said here Sunday. Briefing reporters on his meeting with King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Ban said they discussed the link between the soaring fuel prices and the worsening food crisis as well as climate change. “He acknowledged that the current oil prices are abnormally high due to speculative factors and some other national government policies,” Ban said before ending a 24-hour visit to the Kingdom. “He is willing to what he can to (bring) the price of oil to adequate levels.” Ban said the Kingdom “seem to be considering very seriously how they can address this issue by increasing production.” “I expect that they will take some concrete measures,” said Ban. Media reports have suggested Riyadh plans to raise output next month by about half a million barrels a day to 10 million barrels, a possible sign it is becoming nervous about the political and economic effect of high prices. Saudi Arabia is also hosting a summit in Jeddah on June 22 for consumers and producers to discuss oil prices, which struck a record high of nearly 140 dollars a barrel earlier this month, stoking fears of surging global inflation and weaker economic growth. Ban expressed hope the Jeddah meeting would yield a productive outcome. OPEC on Friday cut its 2008 estimate of growth in world oil demand, as the high prices and slower economic growth put a brake on demand in major industrialized countries, the United States in particular. Global oil demand was now projected to rise by 1.28 percent in 2008, it said in its June monthly report. Oil prices fell back on Friday to just under $135 a barrel. The UN chief also said he conveyed to the King the concern expressed by several world leaders, notably at the Rome food summit earlier this month, about the impact of soaring oil prices on global food security. “I am confident that he shares this concern,” Ban said, although he noted that King Abdullah felt that other factors were behind the surge in food prices. Ban said he also commended the King for his initiative to invest in other developing countries to boost agriculture productivity and encouraged other countries to do the same. The UN chief also discussed a Saudi initiative to promote inter-faith dialogue, adding that King Abdullah told him he would be convening another inter-religious meeting at which Hindus and Buddhists would be invited. “I warmly welcome such initiative,” said Ban. On Lebanon Ban, meanwhile, called for the speedy formation of a national unity government in Lebanon after last month's power-sharing agreement between rival factions. “We expressed hope that the Lebanese people after the election (of the president) should form a national unity government as soon as possible,” Ban said on the final day of a visit to Saudi Arabia. Ban also met prominent Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and urged him and other leaders “to expedite the formation of a national government and not lose the momentum.” The Arab-brokered agreement sealed in the Qatari capital, Doha, led to the May election of former army chief Michel Sleiman as president, putting an end to 18 months of political stalemate between the Western-backed ruling majority and the opposition backed by Syria and Iran.
