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TOKYO (Reuters) - Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Wednesday oilmarkets would remain well supplied even after fresh internationalsanctions against Iran take effect, as global crude oversupply isalready as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd). U.S. and European Union sanctions on Iran's oil exports take effectin June and July, and are aimed at stemming the flow ofpetrodollars to Tehran to force it to halt a nuclear program theWest suspects is intended to produce weapons. Iran exports about 2.2 million bpd, mostly to Asia, in a globalmarket of around 89 million bpd. When asked if he saw oil supplies tightening in coming months asglobal sanctions against Iran come into effect, Naimi said:"Absolutely not". "There is today about 1.3 to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) ofextra supply over demand," he told reporters in Tokyo after holdingtalks with Japanese officials about energy supplies. Japan is amajor buyer of Iranian crude. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumpedabout 1.3 million barrels per day above its output target in March,according to the group's monthly report in April. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer and the world's top crude oilexporter, is pumping around 10 million barrels per day (bpd) and isstoring 80 million barrels to meet any sudden disruption insupplies, Naimi said on Tuesday. Worries of a supply disruption from the Middle East due toescalating tensions between the West and Iran pushed benchmarkBrent crude prices over $128 in March, a gain of over 20 percentfrom the start of the year. Prices have since eased but have stayed well above $100, keepingglobal fuel costs high and threatening to derail the fragile globaleconomic recovery. The United States, Britain and France have discussed a release fromoil reserves to help prevent fuel prices choking economic growth ina U.S. election year. Naimi said it was up to developed nations to decide whether torelease oil from their strategic reserves. "That's their decision,"he said. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Writing by Aaron Sheldrick; Editingby Simon Webb and Miral Fahmy ). I am an expert from egoelectronic-cigarette.com, while we provides the quality product, such as eGo V E-Cigarette , Disposable E-cig Manufacturer, eGo C Electronic Cigarette,and more.
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