Saudi oil minister: OPEC's role in oil market to change

Saudi Arabia's oil minister Khalid al-Falih urges not to expect OPEC to influence the price of crude oil by adjusting supplies.

“I think managing in the traditional way that we tried in the past may never come again. Certainly we will not go with certain price targets,” he said.

As the head of the national oil company, he warned that fast-rising domestic fuel consumption risked eroding the crude-oil exports that are the kingdom’s main source of cash.

While other OPEC members have been urging the freezing or lowering of oil production, Falih is pushing to keep it high and plow the money into other industries that might prove profitable for Saudi Arabia, the New York Times wrote.

"He wants the cartel to rethink its longstanding approach and assumptions that it can manage global oil supplies and prices. It runs counter to the longtime stance of his predecessor, Ali al-Naimi, who presided over an era when OPEC was largely content to restrain production to try to drive prices up," the newspaper added.