Qatar 's oil minister said Wednesday there is no need for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to call an emergency meeting to address the present crude oil price, which has hovered above the $100-a-barrel mark for most of the month.

"OPEC does not and still doesn't think there should be an emergency meeting," Mohammed Al Sada told reporters in Doha , Qatar 's capital. "The market is at a very comfortable situation in terms of supply and reserve."

Fears over escalating unrest in Libya and turmoil elsewhere in the Middle East have pushed up crude prices from levels around $90 a barrel in recent weeks. Libya , which produces around 1.6 million barrels a day of oil, has almost halted production of crude due to the unrest in the North African country.

Crude oil futures were down slightly Wednesday as traders anticipated a large gain in U.S. oil inventories in a government report due later in the session. At 1114 GMT, the front-month May Brent contract on London 's ICE futures exchange traded 43 cents, or 0.4%, lower at $114.73 a barrel. Front-month May futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 49 cents, or 0.5%, at $104.30 a barrel.

Al Sada, who replaced Qatar 's veteran oil minister Abdullah Al Attiyah in January, said OPEC was keeping a close eye on developments in the market but added that "as of today the situation is very comfortable."

He declined to comment on reports that Qatar had struck a deal with rebel fighters in Libya to market crude from oil fields that are no longer under the control of the North African country's embattled leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

So far, details of the reported deal have only come from rebel fighters in Libya that now operate some of the oil fields in the east of the country, but it is still unclear what any agreement would entail and to what extent the Qataris have offered their services.

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