OPEC energy ministers have agreed at theirVienna meeting to raise oil production by 1.5 millionbarrels per day (bpd).
The 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countriessaid it needed to raise oil output by that amount to cover the shortfall fromVenezuela, where a six-week old strike has crippled production.
Delegates attending the extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to pump more oil to help rein in prices which topped 30 dollars a barrel in London and New York recently before easing back slightly.
OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia sought to calm jittery oil markets, saying it would ensure there was adequate supply and could raise its own output if needed to 10.5 million barrels per day within two weeks, from a quota of 7.5 million.
By filling the gap left by Venezuela the cartel, which produces about one third of the world's crude oil, aims to restore prices to within its target range of 22 to 28 dollars per barrel.
Although high oil prices boost producers' revenues, OPEC is concerned that a price spike would jeopardise a global economic recovery and prompt consumers to switch to alternative sources of energy, thereby depressing oil demand.
Traders are growing nervous that a US-led war in Iraq might be launched before the strike in Venezuela is resolved, depriving world oil markets of around five million barrels of oil per day from the two producers, or even more if the war were to destabilise other Middle East suppliers.
The United States has strategic oil reserves of 600 million barrels it can dip into if necessary, but so far it has been reluctant to do so.
AFP