OPEC won’t boost output, Saudi official says

OPEC members will not announce an increase in oil production at this weekend’s summit, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said Tuesday, suggesting oil prices are likely to stay around $100 a barrel.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Ali Naimi said, “There will be absolutely no discussion” of a production increase when the meeting convenes in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Some analysts fear that if OPEC, which controls about 40% of world output, does not release more supply, prices could surge further and affect inflation, interest rates and global growth.

Asked if he was concerned about prospects for the global economy if oil did stay pegged at $100 or more a barrel, Naimi said:

“I don’t like the word worried; I can be concerned. Everybody is concerned about the world economy. We are interested in making the world economy grow because prosperity ensues from that growth. We have no interest in seeing [it] regress.”