No World Oil Shortage, Says Saudi Minister

（单词翻译）

Broadcast: Jan 25 2003

Saudi Arabia's oil minister says his country and the oil cartel, OPEC, could make up for any interruption in oil supplies caused by a possible war in Iraq. He told business and political leaders meeting at ¹⁾the World Economic Forum¹ in Davos that the oil price had been driven too high by "the drums of war."

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi says there is no shortage of oil on world markets, despite fears of war in Iraq. He said that past disruptions, such as the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf² War had shown that producers have been able to provide the world's markets with oil. "Although I admit there is a perception of a threat to supply, producers and consumers are working together to ²⁾mitigate that concern," he said. "And, there is no shortage in the market, and there should be no reason for prices to be where they are today. But that's speculation³ more about perceptions."

Oil prices have surged, topping OPEC's $22 to $28 a barrel target range, amid fear of a war against Iraq and because a seven-week-old general strike has cut exports from OPEC member Venezuela.

Saudi Oil Minister Naimi said fears of a U.S.-led attack on Iraq had driven prices - to an excessive level - now more than $33 a barrel.

OPEC's president, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin⁴ Hamad al-Attiyah, agreed, saying there is no shortage of oil, but that some may be trying to take advantage of war ³⁾jitters. "Security of supply will be questioned continuously, sometimes in reality, sometimes for business, sometimes for speculations⁵ and futures⁶ markets," he said. "We will see many people making a lot of profits in the name of security of supply."

Qatari Minister Attiyeh said OPEC may even face an oil surplus when its members meet in March. OPEC decided⁷ earlier this month to raise output by 1.5 million barrels a day starting February 1.

Dale Gavlak VOA NEWS, Davos.

1)    the World Economic Forum 世界经济论坛

2)    mitigate[5miti^eit]v. 减轻

3)    jitters 神经过敏，过度紧张，恐慌