Saudi Arabia will increase crude oil production capacity to 12.5 million barrels per day by the end of the decade but meeting future oil demand will be a challenge for the world's producers because production has declined and growth in the former Soviet Union has slowed, a Saudi oil official has stated.

Ahmed A Al-Subaey, general manager of Saudi Petroleum Ltd in Tokyo, Saudi Aramco's Japanese arm, said some of the additional capacity would offset natural decline, while the rest would allow the company to expand maximum sustained capability from 10.5 million barrels per day to 12 million barrels per day, he told an international industry symposium organized by the Japan Cooperation Center Petroleum.
“These capacity levels provide us with a cushion of 1.5 to 2 million barrels per day spare production capacity, in keeping with Saudi Arabia's commitment to enhance market stability,” Subaey said.
Saudi Aramco also had an “aggressive exploration program” to expand the kingdom’s current crude reserve base of 260 billion barrels, roughly a quarter of the world's proven reserves, Subaey said.
Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi has said that further exploration could add another 200 billion to reserves. But in spite of this, meeting future demand will still be a challenge with demand for OPEC oil expected to increase over time because of declines in other producing areas.
OPEC’s 11 members currently account for roughly 40 per cent of global oil production.