DUBAI- Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said on Wednesday it has directed national oil company Aramco to continue to supply crude oil at a record rate of 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) over the coming months.

The top oil exporter has said it will boost its crude supply in April to that level, and its oil exports are set to top 10 million bpd from May, also a record high.

On Monday, Saudi Aramco said it was likely to sustain higher oil output planned for April in May, and that it was "very comfortable" with a price of $30 a barrel, signalling the state oil company is prepared to live with low prices for a while. 

Saudi Arabia said last week it would launch a programme to boost production capacity for the first time in more than a decade, signalling to Russia and other rivals it was ready for a long battle over market share.

Oil prices have tumbled by more than 40% to less than $30 a barrel since talks between OPEC and non-OPEC producers on March 6 collapsed without a deal to deepen or extend output cuts that had been in effect since January 2017.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de facto leader, wanted a deeper output cut to support prices, which had been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but Russia refused to agree to further reductions.

On Tuesday, Iraq's oil minister said an emergency meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC members should be called to discuss immediate action to help balance the oil market, according to a letter he sent to OPEC. 

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal; editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter) ((rania.elgamal@thomsonreuters.com; +971 562 160 434; Reuters Messaging: rania.elgamal.reuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rania_ElGamal))