OPEC President Abdullah al-Attiyah said on Thursday he expected any rise in OPEC output quotas to take effect on February 1, and that the hike should be reversed once strike-bound Venezuelan exports resumed.
"As soon as Venezuela comes back, for sure, OPEC will come back to cut production to accommodate Venezuela and create a balance between demand and supply," Attiyah told Reuters in an interview.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to hold an emergency meeting Sunday to decide how much extra oil is needed to fill a gap created by the five-week-old strike, which has virtually paralysed supplies from the world's fifth biggest exporter.
Kuwait Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said on Wednesday that the group was considering an increase of between one and 1.5 million barrels per day, on top of OPEC's current 23 million bpd target.
Asked when any decision made on Sunday might be implemented, Attiyah said: "I think February 1."
Attiyah, also oil minister to Qatar, said it was still unclear how much extra oil OPEC would inject into the 76 million bpd world market. The Venezuelan strike has choked off about two million bpd.
"For now, we don't have a number. There are different numbers, different scenarios, this is why we are meeting on Sunday," he said.
But in a sign that agreement was far from close, Attiyah said: "I think it will take some time on Sunday.
The meeting will be long in hours, but it will be a one-day meeting."
Non-OPEC at full steam
The unexpectedly serious supply hitch in Venezuela, a key supplier to the United States, has left oil prices simmering around $30 a barrel since early December.
Traders fear a US-led war in oil exporter Iraq could lead to an even deeper shortage and higher prices, further damaging a fragile world economic recovery.
Attiyah estimated that the Venezuela situation and the threat of war in Iraq had added $4 to $5 to a barrel of crude, which hit a two-year peak at the end of December but cooled down after more OPEC crude appeared imminent.
Attiyah said OPEC had received word from major non-aligned producing countries that they would not be able to contribute higher supplies.
"We asked non-OPEC countries to help and we received an answer from Russia, Mexico and Norway that they cannot increase their production because they are already at maximum production," he said.
