Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 28 / Trend /
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state oil company, is ready to compensate for any shortfall in crude supply from Libya by pumping more oil of its own, Bloomberg reported according to the Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih.
"We're ready to supply incremental change in demand from our customers," Al-Falih told reporters in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar, when asked if Aramco would increase its production to meet a gap in Libyan supply. He declined to specify the amount of additional oil Aramco would provide.
"The customer demand varies from day to day, so it's hard to tell by how much we will raise the output," Al-Falih said.
More than half of Libya's crude output of 1.6 million barrels a day has been halted, the International Energy Agency said last week. The North African nation has been convulsed by an uprising against the government of Muammar Qaddafi, who has vowed to crush rebels threatening his 42-year rule.
The turmoil, which follows protests that led to the ouster last month of Tunisia's president and the Feb. 11 fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, have pushed crude prices higher. Oil in New York rose 14 percent last week, the biggest gain since the five days ended Feb. 27, 2009.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude exporter, with output of 8.4 million barrels per day in January, according to Bloomberg News estimates. OPEC collectively pumped 29.4 million barrels a day last month.
Libya holds the largest oil reserves in Africa and is the continent's third-largest producer after Nigeria and Angola.