OPEC can boost output by 2 million bpd — Chairman

(KUNA) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has the ability to increase its production by two million barrels a day, a senior OPEC official said.

Visiting OPEC Conference President and Algeria’s Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil told KUNA the increase could mainly come from Saudi Arabia, adding that other countries like Algeria, Libya, Venezuela, and Nigeria could also contribute in the raise.


Talking to reporters during his visit to Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Khelil said that the hike in oil prices is a result of economic crisis in the US and the decline of the US dollar’s exchange rate.

He pointed out that the price of oil increases by USD 4 whenever the dollar’s exchange rate decreases by one percent.

If the US economy improves by the end of 2008 or early 2009, oil prices would decline, he noted.

KUNA