Potential crude oil enough to power world for 140 years: Saudi official

A senior Saudi official has said that potential crude oil is enough to power the globe at current levels of consumption for another 140 years, media reports said Thursday.

Abdallah S. Jum'ah, president and CEO of the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), made the remarks at a conference of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday in Vienna, according to the reports.

"The world has only consumed about 18 percent of its conventional potential", Jum'ah was quoted as saying, adding the world has the potential of 4.5 trillion barrels of crude oil in reserve.

Jum'ah said that people should lay to rest fears that the world is in danger of being tapped out within a few decades.

Currently in world market, crude oil prices have tumbled to five-month lows, dropping by more than 12 U.S. dollars a barrel since hitting record highs in mid-July.

Analysts said a combination of ample supplies and the easing of political tensions in the Middle East have driven oil prices lower.

Earlier this week, the OPEC agreed to remain its current production target of 28 million barrels a day unchanged, but made clear it would consider a possible cut in its output quota before the end of the year.

Source: Xinhua