Saudi Aramco CEO defends kingdom's oil reserve estimates

Houston (Platts)--17May2005

Saudi Aramco CEO Abdulla Jum'ah emphatically defended Saudi Arabia's own oil
reserves estimates Monday while taking questions after a presentation at
Houston's Rice University. "There is no disagreement between our professionals
and other oil and gas professionals," he said, with particularly emphasis on
"professionals," in response to questions referring to consultants who raised
doubts about the kingdom's estimates. "I'll just leave it at that," he
countered, when specifically asked about challenges from Houston consultant
Matt Simmons, who has been a vocal critic of oil reserves estimates in the
kingdom. Jum'ah fielded the reserves question and a few others following a
presentation on the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US to kick off a
leadership lecture series at Houston's Rice University. The university is
launching a research project on the role of national oil companies in the
world's oil industry and invited Jum'ah as its inaugural speaker.

In his presentation, Jum'ah predicted the US will continue to need supplies
from Saudi Arabia for the foreseeable future and emphasized his view that
Saudi Arabia will be able to deliver. He stressed the importance of Saudi oil
for maintaining global energy stability and noted that Saudi Aramco has never
failed to meet a supply commitment for operational reasons during its seven
decades of production. Jum'ah challenged those who criticize the relationship
between the US and Saudi Arabia as dangerous, saying that only Saudi Arabia's
reserves can meet the energy demands of the future. Regarding a question about
plans for Saudi investment in US refineries, Jum'ah would only say: "We
continue to look for opportunities."

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