U.S. asks Saudis to lift oil output from July [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. asks Saudis to lift oil output from July

KUWAIT | Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:48am EDT

(Reuters) - The United States is pressing Saudi Arabia to boost oil output to fill a likely supply gap arising from sanctions on Iran, Gulf oil officials said, adding that an increase in production is unlikely to be needed before July.

Saudi Arabia is the only producer with spare capacity and oil importers will rely on Riyadh to fill the gap should Iranian output drop.

Saudi Arabia has made clear it will only raise output if it sees additional demand for crude and does not want its oil policy implicated in efforts to disrupt Iran's atomic program which the West says aims to develop a nuclear weapon.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/13/us-saudi-oil-idUSBRE82C0T320120313