'tough' 2016

lifting of international sanctions.

"The impact of the Iranian crude depends on when it would come to the market, what are the volumes and grades and where will it be marketed... But any additional supplies from current levels will put pressure on prices."

There has been more than one request in the past six months for an Opec emergency meeting to address sliding oil prices, Al Fuzaia told reporters on the sidelines of the conference. "But if there was no real and clear cooperation to reduce the supplies from all sides, whether from outside the Opec and heavyweight producers, there will be no [need] for a meeting," she said. "On the contrary, if there was a meeting without a concrete outcome to cooperate, it would have a very bad impact on the oil market."

Asked about comments from a Lukoil official who said Russia needed to work with the Opec to reduce supplies, she said: "The Opec welcomes any cooperation from countries outside the Opec to work with it to stabilise the market and reach suitable prices for all producers... I read these comments as you did," she said. Al Fuzaia said earlier that the Opec cannot cut oil output alone when producers from outside the group are raising supplies. The two sides should work together to stabilise the oil market, she said.

Meanwhile, the Opec's strategy of allowing low oil prices alone to stabilise the market without cutting supply is working, Kuwait's acting oil minister Anas Al Saleh said. Al Saleh said that he expected the price of oil for the 2016/17 budget to be set at around $25 a barrel.

Some 90 per cent of the Opec country's state revenues come from oil. Kuwaiti oil prices dropped to around $19.50 a barrel on January 21, but have since rebounded and stood around $22.60 on Monday.