Major Gulf producer Kuwait will back a hike of 1 million barrels per day in Opec's output ceiling if oil prices stay at record levels, a move that would bring formal production limits in line with actual supplies.
Opec ministers also pledged on Sunday to do what they can to deflate oil prices at record high levels beyond $53. Top crude exporter Saudi Arabia said it could immediately tap 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of its spare capacity if needed.
"If prices continue as they are now, we will ask for an increase in the ceiling of production. Kuwait would support this," Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah told reporters at an oil exhibition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"We could increase by another 1 million to make official the 28 million. That would be another signal to the market that Opec continues to support market stability," he said.
The 10 Opec members bound by quotas, excluding Iraq, are now pumping around 28 million bpd, well in excess of an official ceiling of 26 million, which rises to 27 million from November.
The cartel is due to meet in Cairo on December 10 to chart production policy for early next year.
Sheikh Ahmad said Opec production is now about 30 million bpd with most members stretched to capacity. But he said Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are in a position to increase actual supplies to the market, should the need arise.
"If the demand is there, sure we will add new production to the market," Sheikh Ahmad said, adding that Saudi Arabia could tap 1 million bpd and Kuwait could pump an extra 200,000 bpd from January if needed.