Opec is on track to boost oil production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) next month to help build oil stockpiles ahead of an anticipated third-quarter demand surge.
The cartel's president, Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah, also Kuwait's oil minister, said that supplies from the group's 10 members bound by quotas were expected to rise to 28.5 million bpd in May from just over 28 million now.
"I believe, as Kuwait, the market will dictate an extra 500,000 (in May) in preparation for the third quarter," he said. "This will be a hike in actual production."
He said core Gulf Opec producer Kuwait was pumping 2.65 million bpd now and would maintain that flow rate in May.