VIENNA (AFP) – Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said he was satisfied with the current price of oil and saw no reason to change output quotas, as he arrived in Vienna Monday for an OPEC meeting later this week.

“Am I comfortable with the price? Yes,” Nuaimi, the de-facto head of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), told journalists ahead of the cartel’s meeting on Thursday.

“The price between 70 and 80 (dollars per barrel) is an ideal price,” he added, noting that he was “happy” with the current situation.

Although oil prices were still above the 80-dollar mark on Monday after hitting five-month highs over 85 dollars last year, Nuaimi expressed satisfaction.

“We are comfortable with the whole market today, the situation in the market is very comfortable,” he told journalists. “The economic growth of the world has been remarkable in 2010.”

Nuaimi hinted that a change in production quotas for OPEC’s 12 member countries was not in the cards at Thursday’s meeting, as he asked why the cartel should consider such a move.

He rejected the idea that OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world’s oil, might increase production this year.

“The market is very well balanced, everybody is happy with the market, consumers, producers: very happy,” Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said.

“I think the supply is adequate and the demand is quite active,” he added.