"Some countries feel production is meeting demand, others feel in the coming months there will be a need to increase production. The majority of countries feel that production is meeting demand."
Iraqi oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Tuesday, immediately ahead of OPEC's formal ministerial conference in Vienna. OPEC ministers were heading into formal talks Tuesday discuss whether they should increase crude output as a gesture to consumer nations feeling the pinch of high oil prices.

"We can say, without any doubt, that the present price levels are not the result of a shortage of crude. The market remains well-supplied, commercial stocks are at healthy levels and the level of upstream spare capacity has increased."
OPEC president Mohammed Bin Dhaen al-Hamli said Tuesday ahead of the cartel's formal talks on output that world crude oil markets were well supplied and consumer inventories at healthy levels.

Updated: September 11, 2007