Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 28 / Trend /
OPEC members and oil producers outside the group can compensate for any halt in crude shipments from Libya, Bloomberg reported according to Qatari Oil Minister Mohammed Saleh Al Sada.
"We think there is no shortage of supply," Al Sada told reporters in Doha. "OPEC and others outside OPEC can make up for the loss of Libyan production."
Concern that political upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East would disrupt supplies drove the price of crude to $103.41 a barrel last week, the highest level since September 2008. Libya holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has an estimated 4-6 million barrels per day of spare crude production capacity, more than enough on paper to cover Libya's output of 1.6 million barrels a day.
Qatar and Libya are among the 12 members of OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil. Saudi Arabia is the group's largest and most influential member.
The Saudi official, who declined to be identified by name, said in a telephone interview that some African oil going to Asian markets can be redirected to Europe, while extra Saudi oil can go to Asia to replace Nigerian or Angolan supplies there.
Violent clashes between opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and forces loyal to him have reduced the North African nation's oil output by at least 850,000 barrels a day from 1.6 million before the conflict, according to a statement on the website of the International Energy Agency on Feb. 25. The Paris-based IEA advises industrialized, oil-consuming nations.