Saudi Arabia considers the current oil market situation to be "great", its oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said as he arrived in Vienna for a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

"Let me tell you this, this is the best environment for the market. Supplies are plentiful, demand is great, balanced -inventories are balanced," Naimi said on Tuesday when asked by reporters to comment on the state of the oil market.

Opec, which meets on Friday, is widely expected to keep output policy unchanged.

Asked how he saw oil supplies in the future and whether there might be too much oil, he said: "Same thing, the future is the future. If it's too much it is good for the market."-Reuters