( dpa ) - Current oil stocks are sufficient to meet expected demand, oil ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided at their Friday meeting in Vienna.
"We think there is a balanced market, and we think there is no need for action," OPEC President Chakib Khelil of Algeria said, announcing OPEC's decision to leave output levels unchanged.
However, OPEC would watch further developments worldwide and "not hesitate" to decrease production in the case of a global economic slowdown, Khelil said.
"There should be no concern about lack of oil but more concern about the financial crisis and its impact on the world economy," he added.
He expressed hope that there would be no full-blown recession, and the economy would pick up again after a few quarters.
OPEC stocks were well within their five-year average and also expected to increase within the next months, due to OPEC's earlier increase by 100,000 barrels per day, OPEC said.