LONDON, July 11: Saudi Arabia has told global oil majors and European and US refiners it will keep crude supplies steady in August from July, traders said on Monday. With European and US crude stocks at the top end of ranges for recent years, majors and European buyers were not looking for more crude, traders said. “I don’t think people were asking for more,” one trader said. “There is plenty of crude available in the market.”

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi has said the kingdom was able to lift output but that there was no demand for extra crude from the world’s oil market due to bottlenecks in the global refining system.

Opec in June decided to raise its oil production target by 500,000 barrels per day effective July 1, but the move had little effect on oil prices. Majors have been receiving about 80 per cent of full contract volumes since May, while European refiners have been receiving about 70-75 per cent of contracted volume for some time.

“For us there are no changes at all this month,” one European refiner said.—Reuters