By Humeyra Pamuk
“There is no shortage in the market. There is no need for further OPEC supply,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview. Iran currently holds the presidency of OPEC.
“But the consumers are worried, this is psychological,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kuwait’s Oil Minister said the OPEC countries were in consultations about a potential output boost.
“I am hearing some consultations taking place between ministers, there is no concrete decision for an OPEC emergency meeting,” Khatibi said.
OPEC’s next scheduled meeting is in June, but the pressure on the producer group has been growing to rein in the market after s oil prices hit two-year highs due to a disruption in Libyan oil exports.
Khatibi said he believed the oil supply lost because of the bloody unrest in Libya was around 700,000 to 800,000 bpd, but added that OPEC’s current production levels were still above demand.
“February production is around 29.5 million barrels, which is higher than the demand for OPEC’s crude,” he said.
Up until February, OPEC’s production was showing a steady rise in response to recovering world demand and higher oil prices. But last month, the crisis in Libya has cut the group’s output to 29.43 million bpd from a two-hear high of 29.63 million bpd in January.
“Consumers are worried, but this is a psychological effect. They might prefer to buy more oil….What you see is not real demand,” he said, adding that the oil stocks remained high.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Joshua Schneyer William Hardy)
