Opec's stable market outlook gives few drivers for policy change

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) kept forecasts for global oil supply and demand unchanged in its last monthly assessment before members meet to review the market.

The 13 nations of the Opec pumped 32.44 million barrels a day in April, slightly less than will be required in the the third quarter. Production rose as gains in Iran and Iraq compensated for losses in Nigeria and Kuwait. Investment by the global oil industry through 2018 will slump to less than half the amount spent from 2012 to 2014 following the collapse in prices, Opec said. Oil prices have rebounded more than 75 per cent from the lows reached in February as US shale production falters, signaling that Saudi Arabia's strategy to re-balance oversupplied world markets is taking effect.

Opec has no current plans to revive supply limits when ministers meet on June 2, six delegates said on May 4.

"It is widely recognized that an adequate return on investment is needed to maintain production levels, as well as to allow for the growth," the group's Vienna-based research department said in the monthly report. "A return to balance is a shared interest among consumers and producers alike."