The OPEC on Saturday ruled out the possibility of an immediate output rise after oil prices slid, but it predicted there would still be an output rise of 500,000 barrels a day in May.

As the oil prices started to come down, the reason for starting discussions to raise OPEC's oil output has been removed, said OPEC's President Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, referring to last month's OPEC meeting in Iran.

But he predicted that the market behavior will force oil producers to raise production in May.

"I think the 500,000 barrels increase will come anyway ... before June," he said, adding that world demand for oil is expected to rise by 1 million barrels per day in the third quarter.

World oil prices dropped on Friday for the fourth successive day to go below 54 dollars a barrel, as supply concerns that drove the market up to record highs earlier this week began to ease.