Thursday, July 22, 2004

VIENNA (AP) - OPEC aims to boost its oil production capacity by at least 10 per cent by the end of next year, in an effort to keep crude prices from rising further, the group's president said Thursday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is already pumping two million barrels a day above its output target of 25.5 million barrels, Purnomo Yusgiantoro told a news conference at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna. "That's partly because we are concerned with the price level that we see today," he said.

A robust demand for oil imports from China and refining bottlenecks in other major importing countries have fanned "unwarranted fears" about possible crude shortages.

To calm a nervous and sensitive market, OPEC members are investing in their oilfields and export terminals to add between 2.5 million and 3.5 million barrels of daily production capacity by the end of 2005, he said.

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