TMCnet News
DJ ENERGY FORUM: Saudi Oil Min Still In Riyadh For Hu's Visit(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)DOHA, Apr 22, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) --Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi is set to arrive Monday morning in Doha for the 10th International Energy Forum, a Saudi official said. The official, based at the Saudi embassy in Doha, said the minister was still in Riyadh due to the state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who arrived in the country Saturday morning, beginning his first state visit to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Abdallah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz. According to press reports, the Chinese leader, who flew in from the U.S., is to meet Saudi businessmen and call on petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) before flying to the oil-rich Eastern Province on Sunday to meet officials of state oil conglomerate Saudi Aramco in Dhahran. The Saudi king made a historic state visit to China in January, during which the two sides signed a protocol on bilateral cooperation on petroleum, natural gas and minerals, as well as several documents with regard to investment, economic and trade cooperation, and technical support. Saudi Aramco, China's top supplier of oil in 2005, last year signed a $3.5 billion deal with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Sinopec, China's top refiner, to expand a refinery in south Fujian province. It's also in talks with Sinopec about investing in a plant in the northern port city of Qingdao. A host of officials and executives from oil consuming and producing nations have gathered in Doha for the 10th International Energy Forum, where they are discussing soaring oil prices and energy supply and security. Ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Naimi is the key powerbroker, are set to hold an informal meeting here on Monday. Ministers thus far have stressed their inability to do much about scorching oil prices at a time when political risk is playing such a role in pushing crude higher. Oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange breached $75 a barrel for the first time Friday, clocking up the fourth record close in a week. -By Nahed Al Ali, Dow Jones Newswires; +9745889504, [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires 04-22-06 0519ET |