OPEC cut its forecast last week for global oil demand growth for 2011 and 2012, pointing to a grim economic outlook in Europe and warning further economic woes in top consumer the United States may weigh still more heavily on fuel use.
"We see that there are a lot of problems facing the world economy... We are concerned about the European sovereign debt. We are very concerned," El-Badri told reporters in Dubai, adding that efforts to spur economic growth could revive demand.
"Everybody is really working hard to remedy this slowdown. I hope that whatever policies they initiate in the next month or so will pick up growth and demand," he said.
"We have to wait and see what happens in the next two or three months to the world economy and demand."
The head of the World Bank said on Monday that low investor confidence because of the euro-zone debt crisis had spread to developing nations who have been engines of growth and oil demand since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
Two days after Gulf OPEC countries failed to convince other members to agree a group output increase on June 8, OPEC published a report saying demand for its oil would average 30.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in a tightening global supply market in the second half of 2011.
OPEC revised down its forecast for demand for its oil by 100,000 bpd to 29.9 million bpd for 2011 as a whole in last week's monthly report. But demand does not look weak enough for OPEC to act, El-Badri said.
"What we are seeing at this time is demand will be lower, but not that much... Not enough to generate any action," he said.
El-Badri added that demand for OPEC oil should be around 30 million bpd for the rest of this year, but an OPEC source later said the organization's demand forecast had not changed since last week.
El-Badri — who headed Libya's National Oil Corporation until 2006 and was energy minister from 1990-2000 — said he expected OPEC producers to independently adjust their output as Libyan sweet crude production recovers.
"Automatically the market will balance itself... There will be less need for other crude," he said.
"Since the start of this year, because of too many crises in the world, production and abiding by the production allocations is becoming very difficult."
Oil climbed above $86 per barrel Tuesday on expectations that the Fed will announce new measures to stimulate the US economy. Benchmark crude rose 81 cents to $86.62 per barrel in early afternoon trading in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price oil produced in foreign countries, increased $1.18 to $110.32 in London.
While Libya could take around 15 months to get back toward pre-war levels of around 1.6 million bpd, supply from war-torn OPEC member Iraq is expected to rise markedly over the next few years as the world's biggest companies tap some of the globe's largest underdeveloped oil fields.
El-Badri said OPEC might start discussing when Iraq, whose war-damaged oil sector is still exempt from OPEC production limits, should be subject to the quota system some time next year, but he declined to say what output level might prompt OPEC to discuss Iraq's inclusion in the allocation system
"I think there is a number but they have not reached it yet," he said.
"Maybe by the end of 2012, maybe it could be about time to talk about it," he said.
"This is only my calculation... This is my guess," he said, adding that the timing of talks would depend on Iraqi oil output growth.
Iraq's deputy oil minister said the country's oil production could reach 4 million bpd by the end of 2012, up from around 2.4 million bpd in 2010.
Iraq's inclusion is potentially tricky for OPEC as talks would need to balance the plans of many members to expand supplies in an environment of uncertain demand.
