Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, desires to up oil prices to $100 per barrel (pb), which will make it more or less reluctant to back any cut to OPEC and non-OPEC members output reduction deal.

In January 2017, OPEC and non-OPEC members, including Russia, decided to cut oil supply, a deal which was extended until the end of 2018.

The deal has reaped many fruits, as industrialised nations’ oil inventories hit their five-year average, but the Saudis are not likely to limit themselves to that.

Some have linked this policy to the Kingdom’s plan to offer a small stake in its Aramco, referring to an attempt to boost the company’s valuation, according to Reuters.

“Look at the economic reforms and projects they want to do, and the war in Yemen. How are they going to pay for all that? They need higher prices,” an informed source told the international news agency.

Saudi Arabia did not announce a targeted price for oil, neither did OPEC, but the $100 pb estimate was reported by some sources in the industry.

“I personally think that now $70 is the floor for oil prices. But OPEC is unlikely to make any changes in June, maybe by the end of the year. The market still needs support,” Reuters revealed, citing an OPEC source as saying.