OPEC is not likely to cut crude output when it meets later this month amid hopes that the market will absorb surplus supplies, the Kuwaiti oil minister said today.
"I do not expect OPEC to make any production cut. A decision like this will be very difficult," Ali al-Omair said in Abu Dhabi, cited by the official KUNA news agency.
The 12-member Organisation for the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to hold its next scheduled meeting on November 27 amid calls by some members to reduce production to stop a slide in oil prices.
OPEC supplies around 40 per cent of global crude output.
Omair, who was attending an oil conference in the UAE capital, expressed hope that the oil market will soon absorb surplus production, adding that "the size of the surplus is unknown".
KUNA quoted OPEC secretary general Abdullah el-Badri as saying that "there was no cause for panic in the markets as a result of the sharp decline in oil prices because the situation will improve."
OPEC is currently pumping just under 31 million barrels per day, around one million bpd higher than its ceiling.
World oil prices rose today, gaining strength from solid economic data in key consumer China, with extra support from the weaker US dollar, dealers said.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December increased USD 1.45 to trade at USD 84.84 a barrel around midday in London.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December rallied USD 1.06 to USD 79.71 a barrel compared with Friday's closing level.
