Mubasher: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Monday announced it would not increase its oil production unless the crisis in Iran and Venezuela led to a significant and sustained production shortage.

The recent economic woes in Venezuela have weighed on the country’s oil output, which stood near a 30-year low.

Meanwhile political issues and riots in Iran, the third-largest producer in OPEC, did not affect the production but pushed prices higher.

“Even if there was a supply disruption from Iran or Venezuela, OPEC will not raise output,” a senior Middle Eastern official at OPEC told Reuters.

“OPEC’s policy is to bring inventories down to their normal levels and will stay the course, unless the disruption in supply of something like 1,000,000 barrels per day persists for more than a month, and causes shortages of crude supply to consumers,” he said.

The source added that the oil market was on its track towards rebalancing; however, global oil inventories have so far remained above their five-year average.

More time is needed to end the supply glut, the unnamed source told the news agency.