OPEC comments before Nov 17-18 summit

(Reuters) - OPEC heads of state and their ministers of oil, foreign affairs and finance meet in Riyadh on November 17-18, with crude at record prices in sight of $100 a barrel.

Oil ministers are set to meet informally at the end of the week but are not expected to hold a full-blown OPEC conference.

The discussions are more likely to set the stage for policy action when the 12 oil ministers gather for an official meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on December 5 in Abu Dhabi.

Consumer nations are urging producers to pump more but OPEC insists it is supplying enough crude. It says speculators, a weak U.S. dollar and political tensions are driving oil's rally.

Below are recent comments by OPEC ministers and officials.

SAUDI ARABIA

With U.S. crude above $96 a barrel, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was asked on November 11 in Kuwait whether OPEC would consider raising supplies:

"This is premature, but we will discuss the issue when we meet," he said.

"Gulf producers do not control the market. Gulf states are trying as much as they can to secure supplies and are trying to achieve market stability, but prices (are) set by the market."

IRAN

The country's OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour-Ardebili said on November 12, when U.S. oil was above $96, "The oil ministers of OPEC member states are not due to discuss increasing oil production in Riyadh. He (the Saudi oil minister) means OPEC is due to discuss (a production increase) in its December ... session in Abu Dhabi."

KUWAIT

Acting Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim on November 11 with U.S. oil above $96: "OPEC will not hesitate to exercise its responsibilities," he said.

Asked if such action would include an output increase, he said: "If the market requires it, and according to market principles."

NIGERIA

Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on November 10, with U.S. oil above $96: "$100 oil was speculated about three, four, five months ago and we are there now. There is no indication why it has reached $100 in terms of supply and demand indices," he told Reuters.