Aramco CEO Says Oil Market Imbalance Has Nothing To Do With Saudi

AramcoCEO_May2014 — Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Khalid al-Falih speaks to the media at the company's booth during Petrotech 2014 (a petrochemicals conference) at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre in Manama on May 19, 2014. Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed

(Reuters) - The imbalance in the oil market has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia, and a fair oil price is what would ultimately balance supply and demand, the head of state oil company Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday.

"The math will tell you that our exports...are gradually declining so ‎the reason for the imbalance in the market absolutely has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia," chief executive Khalid al-Falih said at a conference in Riyadh.

"I would not venture to guess where the (fair oil) price will be but it will be the price that ultimately balances supply and demand, and I don't think that anybody, no single person can dictate what that price is. I will be foolish if I did that."

Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil exporter and largest producer in OPEC, which in November declined to cut its oil output to arrest the decline in oil prices and decided instead to focus on market share.