Qatari oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said Tuesday that the oil market
was not facing any shortage of crude oil but that OPEC would act if it saw
real demand for physical oil.

"The market is not facing any shortage of crude oil," he told reporters
on the sidelines of the Oil and Money conference in London. Producers, he
said, were asking themselves whether the market is facing a shortage of crude
and could producers be sure that if they increased oil production, it would be
used.

Asked if he would rule out another increase in OPEC production this year,
on top of a 500,000 b/d supply hike due to come into force on November 1,
Attiyah said.

"I think that if the market needs real physical oil...yes, I think OPEC
is always moving very quickly."

Qatar did not see any additional demand from its own crude oil lifters,
he said.

"We offer many cargoes and we see the market is very efficient," Attiyah
said, adding that there was demand for refined products.

"Why is oil at $93 today? What has changed?" Asked Attiyah. "Really I
have no answer."

On whether there was any talk within OPEC of moving away from the dollar
and to a basket of currencies, Attiyah said this had been discussed in the
past and abandoned. "It didn't work," he said.