OPEC to maintain

OPEC to maintain current output

VIENNA (AFP): OPEC is unlikely to increase oil output next month despite a resurgence of prices, but could hold another special meeting to review the situation if they continue to soar, its head said on Wednesday.

In an interview, OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez declined completely to rule out a production increase at the June 5 meeting, but noted that OPEC had a price-band mechanism which automatically increased output if prices stayed high.

"I believe that we will maintain the present level of production" at the ministerial meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, he said.

Asked where a production increase was nevertheless possible amid a rise of prices which have approached 30 dollars a barrel in recent days, he said: "It's ... a possibility, but we have to wait for the conference."

Rodriguez insisted that OPEC's price-band mechanism, aimed at keeping crude prices within a range of 22-28 dollars, would also be triggered if necessary.

"If the price remains above US$28 for 20 days immediately the price mechanism is triggered," he said, referring to the mechanism which increases production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) if OPEC's benchmark price stays above 28 dollars for 20 working days, or below 22 dollars for 10 days.