Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said yesterday they expect Opec to keep oil production levels stable so as not to alter prices at a meeting of the cartel this week.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi said the market was "stable and balanced" and that he therefore believed there would not be any decision to change output.

"The price is at a comfortable level for producer and consumer countries as well as for the oil industry," he said ahead of today's Opec meeting.

His Kuwaiti counterpart also said he thought Opec would keep the oil production ceiling unchanged.

"I think that all parameters lead to keeping the production as it is and this, of course, will be reflected in prices" remaining unchanged, Ali Al Omair said in Kuwait City.

Opec, which pumps more than a third of the world's oil, meets today in Vienna to decide on output policy. Ministers have said they expect that the group will leave its output target of 30 million barrels per day unchanged.

Meanwhile, oil prices are at a suitable level for Opec members and the group sees no shortage in supply, the UAE Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazroui said.

"Oil prices have been steady over the past period and at a comfortable level for all members," state news agency WAM quoted the minister as saying.

"The UAE and all of the Opec members are committed to guarantee the balance in supply and demand and that consumers get the oil supplies that they may need," he told WAM before travelling to Vienna.

Oil reserves are still "acceptable" in most oil consuming countries and there is no shortage in supply, the minister added.-Reuters