This reads a lot like the Saudis have about run out of excess capacity?

Naimi Says Saudi Arabia, Gulf States Seeking Stable Oil Prices

By Deema Almashabi and Glen Carey

October 9 (Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter of crude oil, will help meet demand “fully” and will work with other member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council to try to stabilize prices, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said.

“We will work towards moderating the price,” al-Naimi told reporters in Riyadh today ahead of a conference of oil ministers from the council’s six members. “We will meet the market demands fully.”

Crude for November delivery climbed as much as $1 to $90.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $89.93 at 5:09 a.m. local time. Brent oil for November settlement gained 81 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $112.63 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Saudi Arabia is the largest nation in the GCC, a political and economic confederation that includes Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The four states belong also to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The GCC’s other members are Bahrain and Oman. Together, the council accounted for 24 percent of worldwide crude supply in 2011 and 30 percent of total reserves, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy, published in June 2012.

“Oil prices rose in March to levels not seen since 2008, which may adversely affect the global economy, particularly the economies of developing and emerging countries, as well as negatively impact global oil demand,” al-Naimi said in a speech at the conference.

“We continued our policy of allaying market fears, providing supplies when needed and limiting high price fluctuations during the ensuing months till this present day,” he said.