Oil prices eased today on the back of comments from Saudi Arabia after weekend speculation suggested that crude would test $50 per barrel in the near future.

June Brent crude futures were more than $1.5 a barrel lower in mid-afternoon trade as comments from the Saudi Arabian oil minister raised expectations that Opec will increase supply when it meets in Amsterdam next week.

"We in the kingdom estimate the required increase of the ceiling to be no less than one and a half million barrels per day," Ali al-Naimi said in a statement released by the Saudi oil ministry earlier today.

The announcement by Opec’s largest producer came only days after US crude oil prices briefly topped $40 a barrel and average petrol prices at the pumps on American forecourts have been pushing to their highest level in more than a decade.

Opec members pump about one-third of the world’s oil.

Mr Naimi’s statement represented a shift in Saudi oil policy. In March, the kingdom was reported to be the chief advocate of Opec’s decision to cut production in anticipation of a lower demand for oil during the spring and summer. Several members had opposed the cut at the time.

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