ISFAHAN, Iran - OPEC ministers meeting in Iran this week will consider whether to raise their production ceiling by 500,000 barrels per day or otherwise delay a hike until a later date, the Iranian and Kuwaiti oil ministers said Monday.
"We have one proposal to start increasing by 500,000 (bpd) directly after our meeting, and there is another proposal that we monitor the market and if there is need (for an increase) the president will communicate this and members can increase directly (by) 400 or 500,000 (bpd)," Kuwaiti Energy Minister and OPEC President Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah told reporters here.
OPEC ministers will be meeting in this central Iranian city on Wednesday.
"For that 500,000 (bpd) we should talk with our colleagues and shall decide in this meeting," he said, also citing the possibility that a decision could be the subject of an "extraordinary meeting" of the cartel at a later, unspecified date.
"The minimum of what we can do is to continue without any change and with our ceiling," he said, adding that "it is not the right time to have any cut."
"What I can assure is that there is enough supply in the market," he said, adding that OPEC members had "about two million" bpd in spare capacity.
"We think prices will continue as it is now," he said, when asked to address concerns that prices could sky-rocket further.
For his part, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanghaneh also said OPEC members would on Wednesday examine whether "to roll over and monitor the markets" or "increase the official level of production by 500,000 bpd."
"I prefer to discuss in the OPEC meeting and then decide," he said, when asked to spell out Iran`s position.
03/14/2005 14:23 GMT