January 27, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 26, 1426

DAVOS, Jan 26: Top world exporter Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead on its ambitious oil expansion scheme and stepping up exploration to meet future demand, the head of state Saudi Aramco said on Thursday.

The kingdom, Opec’s leading producer, has plans in train to boost production capacity from 11 million barrels per day (bpd) to 12.5 million bpd by 2009. It has been pumping about 9.5 million bpd of crude for months running.

“Everything is on track,” said Abdullah Jumah, Chief Executive and President of Saudi Aramco.

“Whatever we promised, we are going to deliver. It’s on budget and on track,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

And the kingdom’s exploration efforts would be stepped up to meet future oil demand.

“I think given the demand... that will be placed on us, it’s only natural that we would,” said Jumah.—Reuters