The cost of gasoline also has become a sore point in the US presidential race, with President Bush and presumed Republican nominee John McCain calling on Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has said such moves will do nothing to ease American consumers' pain short-term.
The US and other nations argue that oil production has not kept up with increasing demand. But Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling US dollar.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the kingdom is willing to produce more than the 9.7 million barrels of oil a day it had already planned to produce in July – if the market requires it.
But the Saudi oil minister also blamed speculators and asserted supply is not the problem.
"In today's environment, I am convinced that supply and demand balances and crude oil production levels are not the primary drivers of the current market situation," al-Naimi said. Officials and energy executives from more than 35 countries thronged a large hall where he spoke.
King Abdullah also said Saudi Arabia is not the culprit.
The king cited several factors driving "the unjustified, swift rise in oil prices" including "speculators who play the market out of selfish interests," plus higher consumption by developing countries and higher taxes in some countries.
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, however, said earlier that US officials had found no evidence speculators are driving up prices.
Saudi officials have consistently said the country would provide enough oil to supply the market. The kingdom announced a 300,000 barrel per day production increase in May and said before the start of the Jiddah meeting that it would add another 200,000 barrels per day in July, raising total daily output to 9.7 million barrels.
Both announcements had already been factored into oil prices before Sunday's meeting – and neither did much to stem their rise. Total worldwide crude production is about 85 million barrels per day.
The Saudi output increase is "going to help a little bit, maybe reduce prices just a little," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat and former President Bill Clinton's energy secretary, said on CNN's "Late Edition" program, "It won't be significant."
