OPEC Probably Won’t Increase Crude Levels

Representatives of the 11 OPEC member nations are to meet Tuesday in Vienna to review market conditions, but senior officials of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have already made clear they have no plans to pump more crude in the immediate future.

Consuming countries would like them to boost crude production, but industry analysts anticipate that the delegates will simply extend current production levels for an additional three months.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil said last week that he too saw no reason to adjust the group’s output target. The recent rise in U.S. gas prices was due to domestic American refinery problems, he contended.

Oil prices eased somewhat Friday, with contracts of light sweet crude for July delivery trading at $28.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, 20 cents lower than Thursday’s closing price.

Gasoline prices have leveled off too. During the two weeks ended May 18, the average U.S. retail price of gas rose by only about three-quarters of a cent to $1.76 a gallon, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide. Associated Press