Oil price unlikely to rebound, says Saudi official

Saudi Arabia denies manipulating oil price for political reasons, but says crude may not return to previous levels
Oil is unlikely to return to the record levels it hit over the past two years, Saudi Arabia's representative to Opec has said.

Hitting $100 to $120 per barrel would be "difficult", Mohammed al-Madi, Saudi Arabia's Opec governor admitted to an energy conference in Riyadh.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell by 46 cents in early trading on Monday to $54.74 per barrel at 10am GMT. West Texas Intermediate was also down 94 cents this morning to $45.56 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia is Opec's biggest producer and is often referred to as the de facto leader of the oil cartel. Asked if it was possible for the price to return to the highs of $100 to $120 per barrel that it enjoyed in recent years, Madi replied: "I think it's difficult."

Madi also denied that Saudi Arabia was allowing the price of oil to fall for political reasons, the BBC reports.

"There isn't any political dimension in what we do at the oil ministry – our vision is commercial and economic... We are not against anybody or against the [production of US shale gas]. On the contrary we welcome it, as it balances the market in the long run."

Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said that the decision not to combat the market slump by cutting production, thereby propping up oil prices, was not designed to undermine rival oil-producing nations, such as Iran, Reuters reports.

"There is no conspiracy and we tried to correct all the things that have been said but nobody listens," Naimi said.

"We are not against anybody, we are with whoever wants to maintain market stability and the balance between supply and demand, and [with regards to] price the market decides it."