Opec’s president said today he expects the producer cartel to raise its official output ceiling to help contain the latest oil price rally.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah also said the 11-member producer group would continue pumping just over 30 million barrels per day (bpd) for now.
Opec meets on June 15th in Vienna to chart production policy for the second half of the year.
Indonesia threw its support behind an increase in the cartel's 27.5 million bpd ceiling after prices reached a six-week high of $55.55 a barrel yesterday. But other members have been less enthusiastic.
Algeria's oil minister, Chakib Khelil, said there was no point raising supply limits when refiners could not handle the extra crude, and Iran's Opec governor said his country would prefer the cartel to reduce supplies to match the ceiling.
Opec’s 10 members with limits pumped an estimated 27.94 million bpd in May versus an official ceiling of 27.5 million. Production from Opec-member Iraq, at around 1.8 million bpd, is not subject to the cartel's official limits.
Most members have been pumping at full tilt in recent months in a bid to build inventories ahead of peak demand in the fourth quarter. Saudi Arabia, Opec’s biggest producer, is the only country with any significant volume of spare capacity.