Oil use seen rising by Saudi Arabian oil minister al-Naimi amid 'calm'

Oil demand is growing and the market has turned "calm", according to Saudi Arabia's oil minister.

"We want to see calm markets," Ali al-Naimi told reporters after a speech at a conference in the Red Sea city of Jazan in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The nation will remain the largest oil exporter, he said, without specifying dates.

Brent crude futures, a benchmark for more than half of the world's oil, have gained 7.2 percent this year after plunging 48 percent in 2014. The contract rose as much as $3.54 to $62.20 a barrel Wednesday and was at $61.43 at 1:59 pm in Singapore on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.