SAUDI ARABIA PROMISES MORE PRODUCTION

Saudi Arabia, the largest OPEC oil producer, in the past week expressed willingness to produce more to meet any supplies shortfall from Iran. The announcement pressured oil prices and added volatility.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister said that in order to curb rising prices and guard the fragile global economic recovery, the country would like to extend its oil production to its maximum 12.5 million barrels a day.

According to a Saudi government report Sunday, the country's oil exports rose 143,000 barrels per day in January month-on-month, while total production rose 61,000 barrels to 9.871 million barrels per day in January, already the highest production level in decades.

Thanks to Saudi Arabia's pledge, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that it did not think there would be any disruption in global oil supplies.

At the same time, Libya's oil supply was gradually returning to markets. A Libyan National Oil Corp. official said Monday that Libya planned to export about 1.4 million barrels per day of crude oil in April.

The IEA said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers would bring more oil to the market and help curb high prices, which could trigger another global recession.

INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES MAY TAP RESERVES

Adding to the uncertainties of oil supplies, industrial countries were thinking about tapping their strategic oil reserves.

After a meeting in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron said releasing oil reserves was an option.

The French oil minister said Wednesday that France and other industrial countries also were considering oil reserves release.

Investors expected that if crude prices kept rising, which already have caused soaring gasoline prices and increased spending for consumers, the industrial countries could possibly tap emergency reserves for the fourth time in history.

Morgan Stanley said in a report that if oil was released from U.S. reserves, prices would drop 8 percent within the first two days.