OPEC Producers Increase Refinery Investments to Avert Shortages

OPEC members, who today will consider a sixth increase in production quotas, said they plan to increase investments in oil refineries to help meet fuel demand that has propelled gasoline pump prices to records.

Qatar yesterday announced plans to triple its refinery capacity by 2010, in part through a $1.8 billion project. Saudi officials said they may build a second domestic refinery to serve export markets and double the size of a refining venture in Port Arthur, Texas. Kuwait said it’s in talks with the Bush administration to build an oil refinery in the U.S.

Bloomberg