Jeddah: World oil powers gathering for an emergency meeting in Jeddah this weekend are unlikely to make any major decisions, Libya's top oil official said on Saturday, dousing hope for measures to tame oil's ascent.
"You can't get any decision on important matters in the energy market in a meeting of three hours," Shorki Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, told Reuters by telephone before arriving in Jeddah, where top consumers, producers and big oil executives will meet on Sunday.
"There's oversupply in the market. We believe the prices are high, but it's not because of supply and demand," he added. Saudi Arabia will boost production to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi confirmed on Friday, its second increase in as many months and its highest production rate in decades. But there's little sign yet of others in OPEC following suit.
"Some countries may think of increasing production, but some countries may even think of cutting production," Ghanem added, but did not give any details. No members of OPEC have publicly advocated a cartel-wide production cut as oil holds near record highs above $130, although some countries trimmed output during the second quarter, when demand from refineries hits its lowest ebb of the year.
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