Ahead of a key ministerial conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's proposal of raising oil production ceiling drew mixed reactions among the delegates to the meeting.

As the oil price kept soaring and raised global concerns, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Nuaimi on Monday suggested the OPEC increasing the quotas by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Meanwhile, OPEC President, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah said that the cartel may increase oil production if the delegates at the meeting recognize the market does require so.

Later, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the organization will mull all proposals raised for pushing up crude production but cautioned that the high price was not caused by supply shortage but some political and technical factors.

Zanganeh noted that the unusual coexistence of the overproduction of oil producing countries and the high prices, saying it was the greatest headache for the OPEC.

On Tuesday, Iran's OPEC Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili echoed Zanganeh's remarks by claiming that the difficulty in the oil market was caused by factors beyond the cartel's reach.

More delegates poured cold water on the Saudi proposal. Some of them feared the quotas' increase would lead to surplus supply in the second quarter while others insisted that the high prices did not reflect the actual supply-demand rate.

Algeria's Energy Minister Chakib Khelil held that an increase in production ceiling would not bring down the prices, saying that the key to stabilize prices was economic growth.

"Increasing prices were caused by geopolitical problems, lack of light crude, and refining capacity," Khelil said.

Libyan Oil Minister Fathi Ben Shatwan told reporters that no quota increase was needed and the current supply was enough.

Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiya also said that the high oil prices were not due to shortage in supply.

Similarly, Attiya owed the high prices to speculation and geopolitical issues.

Nigerian oil official Edmund Dakouru's position was somewhat close to that of the Saudi oil minister, but he also said that the OPEC members should have, but in fact do not have enough capacity of pushing up the supply to drag down the prices.

In reaction to the oppositions, Nuaimi insisted on his plan of raising quotas, hinting that Saudi Arabia would carry out the increase unilaterally.

"We will do what we need to do," Nuaimi said.

OPEC maintains a 27-million-bpd output ceiling. The cartel's member states have almost been pumping at full-throttle capacity.

Source: Xinhua