U.S. wants OPEC to stabilize oil price

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Friday he wants OPEC to carry out an oil production policy that will help keep oil and gasoline prices stable “as much as possible.”

When Chu travels to Rome this weekend to meet with energy ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries, he will have an opportunity to speak with energy representatives from Saudi Arabia who will also attend the G8 summit ahead of OPEC’s May 28 meeting in Vienna.

“Sudden drops and sudden rises (in oil and gasoline prices) hurt everybody equally, and it’s that stability that we seek,” Chu told Reuters in an interview to preview the G8 meeting.

Chu noted that U.S. oil and gasoline prices “have gone up a bit” in recent weeks, with crude rising $10 a barrel and gasoline jumping 23 cents a gallon since the beginning of the month.

“Another price spike would be bad for the economy and they (OPEC members) know it,” he said.

Reuters