OPEC oil producers have sought to play down expectations of a quick fix for the rise in world oil prices that is threatening to derail global economic growth.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries holds informal talks in Amsterdam on Saturday to consider a Saudi proposal to increase its production quotas by at least 6 per cent.
But OPEC is telling consumer nations that it is not to blame for prices close to $41 a barrel for benchmark US crude.
"I don't think that control is in OPEC's hands," UAE Oil Minister Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri told Reuters on his arrival in Amsterdam on Friday. "There are many factors behind these prices."
US refinery bottlenecks, Middle East security worries and heavy betting on crude futures markets by investment hedge funds have helped drive up oil prices.
Cartel ministers are expected to gather for a short meeting on Saturday morning ahead of a scheduled conference of oil producing and consuming countries.
But they will wait until a full conference in Beirut on June 3rd to agree policy, by which time $40 oil may be more firmly established as the norm on world markets.
Leading producer Saudi Arabia has called for output quotas to go up by at least 1.5 million barrels daily from its official 23.5 million bpd limit.
But OPEC freely admits it is already pumping more than two million bpd in excess of formal limits. Spare capacity is limited mostly to Saudi Arabia which has already informed buyers it will lift deliveries in June.