'Opec ready to meet any supply shortage'

Riyadh - Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Tuesday that Opec is prepared to meet any shortage of supplies due to unrest in the Middle East, and that its members have sufficient spare capacity to do so.

"There is absolutely no shortage of supply now ... Opec is ready to meet any shortage in supply when it happens," Naimi told a press conference at the end of a consumer-producer meeting that signed a cooperation charter.

"There is concern and fear but there is no shortage," the minister reiterated in a bid to assure consumer countries that crude oil supplies are guaranteed despite sweeping unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Saudi Arabia, Opec's largest producer, is pumping around 8.4 million barrels per day, but Naimi said the kingdom still has a spare capacity of another four million bpd.