OPEC is set to stick to its oil output limit at a meeting on Wednesday, even as Iraq and Iran eye higher crude exports amid slashed Libyan production.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not see a need to alter the cartel's crude production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day (bpd), member nations led by the world's biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia have said in Vienna ahead of the meeting.

Oil market analysts are meanwhile not expecting any surprises on output Wednesday at the headquarters of OPEC, whose dozen member nations from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America together produce about one-third of the world's crude.

OPEC, which is currently pumping slightly below its ceiling, is facing also demand strains as consumers increasingly turn to cheaper oil and gas extracted from shale rock, particularly in North America.

At the same time, cartel members Iraq and Iran are seeking to hike their production after sizeable cuts to output in recent years.

At the same time, Iraq's Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi said in the Austrian capital that his country hoped to export 3.4 million bpd of crude oil next year, including 400,000 bpd from Iraqi Kurdistan, as it looks to recover from years of bloodshed.

(Source: AFP)