RIYADH: The United States is very worried by events in Libya but sees no immediate shortage of physical oil in the market, US Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman said on Tuesday.
"We are monitoring the situation in Libya," Poneman told a news briefing. "We are very concerned."
"As far as we are concerned the spare capacity is there and we have not seen any evidence of physical shortage," he added. "We believe there is a lot of product in the market."
Poneman's comments echoed those of OPEC oil ministers who have said they saw no physical oil shortage in the market.
But in the longer term Poneman said economic recovery will boost demand for oil and producers should supply more.
"We are seeng a recovery and we would expect to see an upward pressure on the prices and what we would expect from produers is to bring on more products to the market to meet it," he said.
Speaking at the International Energy Forum which brings together the world's top oil producers and consumers, Poneman said high oil prices could hurt the global economy, but declined to be drawn on what level of oil price was damaging.
"If prices go high they might have a negative impact on the economy," he said.
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