OPEC agrees to raise quota by 500,000 bpd immediately: Report

Ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed here Wednesday on an immediate increase of the cartel's output quota by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 27.5 million bpd, Xinhua News agency reported.

The cartel was possibly to adopt an additional increase of 500, 000 bpd in May if oil prices continued rising, Libyan Energy Secretary Fathi Omar bin Shatwan told reporters.

"The second increase will depend on the price, and the president of the OPEC will make decision on it, maybe in May," Shatwan said.

Earlier Wednesday, the ministers started a closed-door session to discuss Saudi Arabia's proposal of raising production quotas by 500,000 bpd.

Delegates from 11 members of the cartel, including Iran, Algeria, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Nigeria, and some non-OPEC countries, including Oman, Angola, Mexico and Syria, were present at the key conference.

The meeting opened as soaring prices raised global concerns over oil supply. Futures prices reached US$55.65 a barrel in New York last week and lingered around $55 a barrel thereafter.(*)