	thatcher defends uk oil policy in saudi interview british prime minister margaret thatcher denied in an interview published in saudi arabia today that her government s oil policy contributed to weakness in world oil prices she said the government was determined not to intervene to influence production decisions by oil companies operating in the north sea we believe these must be a matter for the commercial judgment of the oil companies she told the arabic language daily al sharq al awsat in an interview coinciding with a visit to london by king fahd of saudi arabia thatcher said this policy had not contributed to the fall in oil prices as north sea production was now about the same as in when prices were close to dlrs a barrel british production was on a plateau and was unlikely to increase in the future she said we naturally share the concern of saudi arabia and other opec members about the harmful effects of oil market volatility for both producer and consumer countries thatcher said on our part we are careful to avoid any actions which might add to such volatility reuter 
