OPEC not for hiking oil output

JEDDAH: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) today felt that there is no need to hike oil output at present as high oil prices are not rooted in supply-demand factors.

OPEC chief and also the Algerian Minister of Energy and Minig Chakib Khelil said OPEC's stance is that there is a need to assess the situation carefully before any action.

The minister said OPEC is to convene in September to consider action. There is no need for an earlier meeting in June, nor is there a problem with supply and demand, he added.

OPEC chief arrived here to take part in the meeting of producers, consumers, and oil executives and firms representatives, which Riyadh called for after oil had soared to record prices.

Saudi Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Ali al-Naimi forecast that more oil supply was unlikely to rein in skyrocketing oil prices.

The minister, speaking at the Jeddah Energy Meeting, believed that there were unprovoked premonitions of potential low oil supply in the long run, which were seemingly playing a role in future contract prices.

He ascribed uncontrollably soaring oil prices to a set of factors, chiefly recent orientations at global financial markets, spurring investors to direct their capital to such commodities as oil.

Meanwhile, Kuwait said it will not hesitate to increase its oil output if there is a need for this.

"Kuwait had and will continue to support the stability of the oil market, and providing this vital product (oil) to the international market," Kuwaiti's Minister of Oil Mohammad Al-Olaim told