SEOUL (Bloomberg) -- The United Arab Emirates, OPEC’s third-biggest oil producer, is ready to boost supplies to the market if needed, oil minister Mohamed al-Hamli said.

“As a member of OPEC, we’re willing to supply more if the market needs more oil,” al-Hamli said on the sidelines of the Asian Oil and Gas Show in Seoul Wednesday. “We believe the market is adequately supplied at this moment.”
The UAE pumped at full capacity in May, producing 2.65 million barrels of oil a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The emirates have spare capacity, al-Hamli said.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil producer, said on June 22 it would increase daily crude output by 200,000 barrels to 9.7 million barrels next month as prices climb to records. Crude oil doubled in the past year, touching an all-time high of $139.89 a barrel on June 16.
The oil market isn’t experiencing any shortfall in supply and has been “hijacked” by speculators, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said Tuesday. Global oil demand will rise 800,000 barrels a day, or 0.9 percent, this year, according to the International Energy Agency on June 10.
Crude oil futures for August delivery were at $137.11 a barrel, up 11 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:15 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose 26 cents to settle at $137 a barrel after touching $138.75, the highest since June 16.
----------------------------High oil prices
Global oil consumption keeps rising because of strong demand from Asia, a weak dollar and speculators, al-Hamli said earlier in a speech at the conference.
“Despite unusual prices, oil demand will continue to grow,” he said. “Financial speculators who may have never seen an oil tanker continue to drive oil prices up.”
Prices will “stay high” at least until the end of the year, supported by tensions in the Middle East and the weakness of the U.S. currency, said Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to state-run Algerian newspaper El Moudjahid Tuesday.
Adjusted for inflation, this year’s crude oil prices are at their highest ever level, surpassing a previous peak in 1980 when Iranian production slumped following the 1979 Islamic revolution.