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DOE's Harbert: No Commitment From OPEC To Raise Output

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Despite calls for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production quotas at its next meeting, the U.S. hasn't received any commitment from the group saying it would hike production again, a top U.S. energy official said Monday.

Karen Harbert, the Department of Energy's assistant secretary for policy and international affairs, told reporters she had been in constant contact with producing nations, including OPEC members.

"What we're hearing is that they are starting to become very concerned about price, (but) nobody has made any commitments to address it directly through additional supply," Harbert said when asked whether OPEC had indicated it would respond to calls to hike output.

"We hope they will take necessary action to ensure there is a much more calm and mutually beneficial market price," she told reporters at a briefing.

With oil prices hovering near $100-a-barrel record highs, U.S. officials have said that further pressure on gasoline and crude prices should be expected if OPEC doesn't increase output again.

The Energy Information Administration has accounted for another 400,000-barrel-a-day increase in output from OPEC - not including Angola - in its short-term energy outlook. That's on top of the group's decision to increase by 500,000 barrels a day starting Nov. 1.

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2007 15:01 ET (20:01 GMT)


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