Oil slips below $80 after Saudi pledges rapid output rise | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Oil slips below $80 after Saudi pledges rapid output rise | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

Oil slipped below $80 a barrel on Monday as Saudi Arabia pledged to raise its crude production to a record, two weeks before U.S. sanctions potentially choke off Iranian crude supplies.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told Russia's TASS news agency that his country had no intention of unleashing a 1973-style oil embargo on Western consumers, but rather was focused on raising output to compensate for supply losses elsewhere, such as Iran. 

Falih said Saudi Arabia would soon raise output to 11 million barrels per day (bpd) from the current 10.7 million. He added that Riyadh had capacity to increase production to 12 million bpd.