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OPEC May Boost Oil Output to Ease Prices

Cartel may meet early and backpedal on current policy

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted May 9, 2008 7:39 PM CDT
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(Newser) – As crude hit $125 a barrel today, one OPEC member said the cartel may boost oil production to relieve prices, the New York Times reports. The move would conflict with OPEC's public stand that speculators, not oil supplies, have been keeping prices high. “We would consider among other options the possibility of increasing output as a way to ensure market stability,” Libya's top oil official said.

“I expect a meeting before" one scheduled for September, he said. "I am not calling for one, but I would support one.” Another OPEC delegate pressed for a production increase of 500,000 barrels a day. Why the boost? OPEC has been "playing with fire," one analyst said: “Every time the price goes up, and we break a new psychological mark, they risk killing the goose that lays the golden egg."

Traders work on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Friday, May 9, 2008. Oil rose above $126 a barrel for the first time Friday.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Friday, May 9, 2008. Oil rose above $126 a barrel for the first time Friday.   (AP Photo/David Karp)
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri listens during a session of the International Energy Forum, in Rome, Monday, April 21, 2008.
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri listens during a session of the International Energy Forum, in Rome, Monday, April 21, 2008.   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Tankers wait to fill with fuel at the Greek oil refinery in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens.
Tankers wait to fill with fuel at the Greek oil refinery in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens.   (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
The cost of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline reached $3.75.9 at the Sunoco station in Solon, Ohio on Thursday, May 8, 2008.
The cost of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline reached $3.75.9 at the Sunoco station in Solon, Ohio on Thursday, May 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
A Shell customer holds his wallet as he pumps gas.
A Shell customer holds his wallet as he pumps gas.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
A worker cycles through a fuel distribution center, in Jakarta.
A worker cycles through a fuel distribution center, in Jakarta.   (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
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Money • World

 
Saudi Arabia • OPEC • Libya • investment • gas prices • oil price • oil production • speculation • supply and demand

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