TOKYO, July 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Monday following a steep fall in the previous session amid growing expectations that the joint OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting later in the day would address rising production from Nigeria and Libya, two OPEC members exempted from the cuts.
Six OPEC and non-OPEC ministers will meet on Monday in St Petersburg to discuss the market outlook and compliance with output cuts. They may recommend a conditional cap on Nigerian and Libyan oil production, sources familiar with the talks said. joint OPEC/non-OPEC ministerial committee could also discuss a deeper cut in production, but more studies are needed, according to one of the sources.
Kuwait's oil minister, Essam al-Marzouq, said on Saturday that compliance was good with oil production cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC countries and that deeper cuts were possible. Brent crude for September delivery LCOc1 was unchanged at $48.06 a barrel by 2228 GMT on Sunday. The contract settled down $1.24 or 2.5 percent on Friday after a consultancy forecast a rise in OPEC production for July despite the group's pledge to curb output. crude for September delivery CLc1 was down 2 cents at $45.75.
A rebalancing of the oil market is progressing more slowly than expected, but it will speed up in the second half of the year, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Sunday. President Tayyip Erdogan travelled to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Sunday, the Gulf states' official news agencies reported, as part of a diplomatic tour aimed at healing an Arab rift with Ankara's ally Qatar. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Libya and Nigeria should cap output when their output stabilizes, the Financial Times reported.