Reem Shamseddine

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Tuesday that the kingdom stood ready to "improve" prices but only if other producers outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) joined the effort.



Naimi said Saudi Arabia had pumped around 10.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, marking an increase from previous months. He did not say why output had risen. Naimi also said he expected oil prices that have languished near six-year lows to improve in the near future.



Saudi expects to begin producing some 20 million to 50 million cubic feet per day of shale gas next year, rising to 500 million cfd by 2018, he said. The kingdom's has 300 trillion cubic feet of extractable natural gas reserves, he added. — Reuters