Saudi Arabia may raise oil output by 500,000 bpd: report

14 June 2008

Mumbai: Top OPEC oil producer Saudi Arabia plans to pump an additional 5,00,000 barrels-a-day more of oil in July, amidst calls by G8 industrialised nations to increase oil production to stem an oil price spike, reports said.

G8 finance chiefs who have called on oil producers to open the taps also sought an investigation into market fluctuations, warning that runaway oil prices could imperil global economic growth.

Rising prices of oil and food pose "a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide" and may worsen poverty and stoke global inflation, the G8 said in a statement.

The G8 - US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia - also urged the the International Monetary Fund to initiate a probe into the recent spike in crude oil prices.

Reports citing analysts and oil traders said the increase could bring Saudi output to a peak around 10 million barrels a day, up from the current 9.45 million barrels a day.

The Saudi move comes after increasing signs that the impact of high crude prices have started affecting the global economy.