Saudi Arabia , OPEC's leading oil producer, will adjust its oil export levels if needed as Libya resumes its own oil production, though the cartel expects Libya 's output recovery after Col. Moammar Gadhafi's reign will be slow and gradual, a senior Gulf OPEC official said Monday.

Saudi Arabia pledged in June to raise its output to as much 10 million barrels a day, after the loss of Libyan oil supplies and as a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries broke up with no decision on how to guide crude-oil production.

The kingdom then raised its output to an average 9.85 million barrels a day in July, a senior Saudi oil official said earlier this month. That is the country's highest level since the early 1980s, when the revolution in Iran and the subsequent war with Iraq stopped the vast majority of Tehran 's production.

Likewise, OPEC also has adjusted its output as Iraqi oil production grew after Saddam Hussein regime's fell and as Russian output grew after the breakup of the Soviet Union . OPEC officials said they retain that flexibility, but they expect Libyan developments will only briefly affect oil prices.

"It is great news that Gadhafi's regime is coming to an end, but Libya 's output is going to take a long time to recover, and the recovery will be gradual," the senior Gulf official told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. "The market will absorb the Libyan oil just as it did before with Iraq and Russia , and any pressure on prices will be short-lived."

OPEC officials said the group currently sees no need for an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. The group's next scheduled output-policy meeting is Dec. 14 in Vienna .

"The situation in Libya is still very vague, and OPEC will adopt the wait-and-see attitude for now," a delegate from another OPEC Gulf country said.

Oil prices came under pressure Monday, initially sending the front-month Brent crude futures contract around $3 a barrel lower in early trade. Investors reacted to news that rebel forces had entered Tripoli Sunday, fueling hopes that the six-month-long conflict is nearing an end.

Iran 's governor for OPEC Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the country's oil ministry website Shana that OPEC will react if oil prices continue their downward trend. Iran holds the OPEC rotating presidency this year.

Libya is a major oil exporter and produces a type of crude that is particularly coveted. The popular uprising in the North African nation this year cut off its roughly 1.3 million barrels of daily oil supplies. Experts say the country could take up to three years to return to its pre-war production capacity.

"With the supposed falling of Gadhafi's regime, external support in terms of finance and expertise will be readily forthcoming, and perhaps Libya will be able to return at a higher level than it had before the revolution," said independent oil analyst John Hall. "But at least the market knows that the situation will not deteriorate further and will soon start to improve."

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