A gas flame is seen in the desert near the Khurais oilfield, about 160 km (99 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia June 23, 2008. (John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own) Saudi Arabia’s oil production hit a record in July, according to published statistics, and is likely to hit another in August, according to industry sources. Some analysts have interpreted the increases as an aggressive demonstration of the kingdom’s ability to ramp up output ahead of an informal meeting of oil ministers in Algeria next month. In this view, Saudi Arabia is increasing output as a warning to rivals that if there is no agreement on a production freeze it has the means to continue raising its output and intensify the pain for all oil exporters (“Saudi signals it may hit new output record ahead of freeze talks”, Reuters, Aug. 17). Saudi Arabia […]