OSAKA -(Dow Jones)- Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Monday OPEC wouldn't necessarily wait for its Dec. 12 meeting or for the terms of its price-band mechanism to be triggered before raising output. "It depends - we have also acted before by holding a teleconference - on the
However, Naimi reiterated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would base any decision to increase output on market fundamentals.
"Let's assume the balance is there between supply and demand, inventories are normal. How does putting more crude reduce a price which is rising as a result of some other parameters," rather than fundamentals? he said.
Nymex November Access crude oil broke the key $30 a barrel level Monday, reflecting heightened fears of conflict in Iraq, concerns that a strike could bring Mexico's state oil company grinding to a halt, and as a ferocious hurricane forced 8,000 oil workers to evacuate Mexican drilling platforms.
Naimi said those factors, not fundamentals, were driving prices higher.
However, if "they result in a curtailment of supply...there should (will) be a reaction (from OPEC) to balance the shortage in supply," he said.
However, "we will not just take action for the sake of action," he said.
OPEC's price-band mechanism requires the organization to supply an additional 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day if the price of its basket of crudes remains above $28 for 20 consecutive trading days.
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
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