Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said Saturday he supported a 500,000 barrel-per-day increase in OPEC oil production, in line with a price-band mechanism agreed earlier this year.
"We support the mechanism which is 500" thousand barrels a day, he told reporters in Vienna, where the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due to meet Sunday.
"We just support what the mechanism tell us to," he added.
Analysts have forecast that the OPEC meeting will agree little more than the 500,000 extra barrels per day agreed under a price band mechanism in March, designed to keep prices within a range of 22-28 barrels.
Prices have soared above 10-year highs of over 35 dollars this week.
Saudi Arabia, the only OPEC country with substantial spared capacity, is leading calls for more production, and is reportedly ready to pump a further 700,000 ballels onto the market.—AFP
©--Agence France Presse.
