Cairo, Dec 22: The world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Opec would release more supply onto world markets if prices stayed above the cartel's $22-28 a barrel target range until mid-January. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the 11-member group remained committed to a "fair price," and would deploy an informal output mechanism to tame a price rally fueled by an extended Venezuelan oil shutdown and fears of war in Iraq.

"We have said many times we are dedicated to preventing shortages, we are dedicated to stabilising the market, we are committed to a fair price," Naimi told reporters on the sidelines of an Arab oil minister meeting in Cairo.
"We have a mechanism to trigger when it is necessary."
Under an informal output mechanism, Opec aims to keep the price of its basket of crudes in the $22-$28 per barrel range by increasing supply if prices exceed the upper end of the range for 20 days. Bureau Report