JEDDAH, June 15: Opec powerhouse Saudi Arabia will raise oil production by 200,000 barrels in July in response to heightened demand, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday.

The UN chief made the remarks to reporters on a plane taking him to London after a 24-hour visit to Saudi Arabia where he had talks with King Abdullah and top officials, including Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi.

“The Saudis did increase production in June by 300,000 barrels. For the month of July, it will be an increase of 200,000 barrels in response to requests from customers,” Mr Ban said on the plane, citing his talks with Mr Nuaimi.

“He said there seems to be a misunderstanding. The Saudis have been responsibly reacting to requests from their customers,” the UN chief said of Mr Nuaimi. “They (the Saudis) will respond positively whenever there is a request from customers, so there is no shortage.”

Saudi Arabia is hosting on June 22 a summit for consumers and producers after oil prices struck a record high of nearly $140 a barrel this month, stoking fears of surging global inflation and weaker economic growth.Media reports have suggested that Riyadh could raise output in July by about half a million barrels a day to 10 million barrels, a possible sign it is becoming nervous about the political and economic effect of high prices.

Earlier, Mr Ban told reporters in Jeddah that the Saudis viewed oil prices as “abnormally high” and were willing to bring them down.

He said his talks on Saturday with King Abdullah had focused on the link between the soaring world crude prices and the worsening food crisis as well as climate change. “He acknowledged that the current oil prices are abnormally high due to speculative factors and some other national government policies,” Mr Ban said before leaving Jeddah.

“He is willing to do what he can to (bring) the price of oil to adequate levels.”

The Saudis “seem to be considering very seriously how they can address this issue by increasing production,” Mr Ban said.—AFP