Libya's oil minister has described the oil market as well supplied, with demand falling and no good reason for an increase in OPEC's output.
Shukri Ghanem said that he did not believe OPEC would increase its output from the current daily level of 27.25 million barrels.
"I don't think the market needs more oil. Why should we increase production if demand is actually going down?" he asked.
On the other hand, the Saudi oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, did not rule out outright the possibility of an increase on his arrival in Abu Dhabi to attend OPEC's next ministerial meeting to be held tomorrow, but said, “The matter needs to be studied further.”
In recent days, most OPEC oil ministers have voiced their concern over an output increase for fear that it would result in an oversupply in the market and exert further downward pressure on prices, which had already fallen below $88 a barrel on Monday from $99 two weeks ago.
Most energy analysts believe an increase in oil output hangs on Saudi Arabia's decision as it is the only OPEC member with excess production capacity, although the recent collapse of oil prices makes the increase scenario somewhat unlikely.
OPEC is currently thought to be producing about 40% of the world's total oil output.
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