Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has not raised the price of gas supplied to petrochemical firms in the kingdom, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi was quoted on Thursday as saying.

Al-Naimi said prices of feedstock gas to the petrochemical industry will remain stable for the time being, according to Saudi newspaper Al-Watan's website.

In Saudi Arabia, the price of ethane is set far below international prices at 75 cents per million BTUs, which has helped spur cheap expansion by petrochemical firms including   Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic).

Asked about current demand for the kingdom's crude oil, Al-Naimi said that demand is between 9 and 10 million barrels per day (bpd), while the kingdom's production capacity is over 12.5 million bpd.   - Reuters