2 million barrels per day to meet additional demand should the need arise," Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi said at the first ever roundtable of Asian oil producers and consumers here. "In order to meet the needs of our customers, we have been producing about 9.5 million barrels per day throughout the second half of 2004, and could produce more on short notice," the Press Trust of India quoted Al-Naimi as saying. Saudi Arabia sells 4.5 million barrels of crude oil or 60 per cent of its total exports to Asia. "We closely monitor the growth of petroleum demand in Asia to anticipate future needs, so we can meet them without delay. At the same time, we watch closely the growth in future world demand and the fluctuations in supply to maintain a suitable spare production capacity," he said. "Saudi Arabia is pledged to absolute reliability in times of scarcity and in times of abundance," he said, adding Saudi Arabia had always come forward to fulfill global petroleum requirements under both normal and extreme conditions, making sure that prices stay at a reasonable level.
