Vienna, 13 June (Argus) — Oil ministers of Iraq, Libya, and Ecuador today said that the market is oversupplied with crude. Their comments here come ahead of tomorrow's meeting of Opec oil ministers that will decide whether to retain or amend the standing production target of 30mn b/d, that Argus estimates was exceeded by 1.85mn b/d in May.
Iraq's oil minister Abdul Karim Luaibi said that the market is oversupplied by 2mn b/d while Libyan minister Abdulrahman Ben Yezza said the oversupply is 1.8mn b/d. Ecuador's oil minister Wilson Pastor called on Opec members to stick to the 30mn b/d production target agreed in December, saying oversupply is running at 1.6mn b/d.
Outgoing Opec secretary general Abdullah al-Badri expressed concern that problems in the eurozone and wider OECD economic problems could spill over into oil producing countries, reducing investment and demand. He reiterated concerns over the security of oil demand in the current economic environment. Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Naimi said that by the end of this year, for the first time, non-OECD oil demand was set to outstrip OECD demand.
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