SEOUL, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Global oil supplies are plentiful
and demand is good, while buyers and sellers are happy with
current prices, top exporter Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali
Al-Naimi said on Tuesday.
"You know my desire is that people leave the market alone,"
Naimi told Reuters in an interview in Seoul. "You know why?
Because everybody now is happy with where the prices are. Nobody
is complaining about high prices or low prices."
"They are no longer sky rocketing or falling down. So I will
really leave the market alone."
The oil minister had identified $100 a barrel as a suitable
price earlier in the year. Brent crude is currently
trading above $108 per barrel.
Asked if he was concerned about next year's demand growth
because of the global economic uncertainty, Naimi said:
"Mechanisms are working well. Supply is plentiful, demand is
good."
On the supply front, he noted high U.S. production along
with a recovery in output from Iraq and Libya.
(Editing by Manash Goswami and Himani Sarkar)