OPEC would not hesitate to raise again its production by 500,000 barrels a day if prices continued to fluctuate, Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said.
“The adjustment mechanism is still in place and if it doesn't allow to lowering of prices to at least $ 28 a barrel, OPEC is prepared to increase its production by 500,000 barrels a day,” Khelil told a news conference in Algiers on Wednesday.
Khelil was reaffirming what Rilwanu Lukmen, Secretary-General of the organisation of petroleum exporting countries, said earlier this week. At a meeting last week in Vienna, OPEC agreed to increase output by 800,000 barrels a day, a new daily quota of 26.2 million barrels, from October in a bid to cut the price to $ 28 a barrel.
But the announcement last week has done little to bring down prices. The benchmark price of New York mercantile exchange oil for October delivery is now above $ 37 a barrel.
Algeria has a current production capacity of 900,000 barrels a day, while its OPEC quota is 836,000 barrels a day.
It could produce 1 million barrels a day by 2001.
Bureau Report
