The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries left its official oil production target unchanged on Thursday, claiming the market was well supplied amid risks to the economic recovery.

OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world's oil, agreed to keep its target at 24.84 million barrels a day at a ministerial meeting here against an unclear price outlook and data pointing to surprisingly strong energy demand.

"Based on its detailed analysis of important market drivers, which clearly reveals that the market remains well supplied, and given the persisting significant downside risks to world economic recovery, the conference decided to leave current production levels unchanged," OPEC said in a final communique.

OPEC also elected Iran to become the cartel's president in 2011, a post it will hold for the first time in 36 years. Ecuador is the current president.

The oil market registered little reaction to the output decision, with Brent North Sea crude for November delivery remaining close to 85 US dollars a barrel in London trade after solid gains in recent days.

Ahead of the meeting, and mindful that a spike in prices could harm a slowing global economic recovery, OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said it was happy for crude to stay around 70-80 US dollars, where it has been for much of the past year.

OPEC, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has kept its official output target steady since the start of 2009 following hefty cuts aimed at boosting prices.

It meets periodically to set output with a view to supporting its members' revenues and oil sector investment. OPEC's next meeting will take place in Quito, Ecuador on December 11.

Despite an official output target of 24.84 million barrels per day, OPEC in fact pumped out 26.77 mbpd in September as producers sought to boost revenues in the face of a pick-up in demand, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri acknowledged that lack of compliance among cartel members should be addressed, even though the communique made no mention of the problem.

"We still need to work hard to improve that compliance. We have to adhere to it," he told a press conference following Thursday's meeting.

El-Badri added that current oil prices were "comfortable" for producers.

Crude futures have almost trebled from lows of about 30 US dollars at the height of the financial crisis in late 2008, while OPEC members Algeria, Libya and Venezuela have publicly said they would like crude to be at 90-100 US dollars.

Although global demand for oil is already rising surprisingly fast after the worst economic downturn in decades, the price is set for only a 75-80 dollar range, the IEA said on Wednesday.

It also revised up its demand forecast for oil, by more than OPEC had done on Tuesday, mainly because of an economic upturn in industrialised countries.

OPEC comprises 12 members -- Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Iraq is the only member without a production quota owing to the country's unrest.