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�OPEC to go ahead with output rise on August 1�
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will go ahead with its planned increase in output on August 1, despite a recent fall in world prices, OPEC President, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said on Thursday.
�I do not think so," Yusgiantoro said when asked by journalists whether the cartel might cancel the planned 500,000 barrels a day increase.
�There will be no change. there will be no revision, because as summer nears, demand will increase,� Yusgiantoro added.
At a meeting on June 3, OPEC decided to raise its output ceiling to 25.5 million bpd on July 1 and to 26 million bpd from August 1, in the attempt to push down high world prices.
He said OPEC, at its upcoming meeting on July 21, would "monitor the development of oil prices and review past decisions."
Yusgiantoro, who is also Indonesia's energy minister, has said that most OPEC members are producing at capacity, but that non-fundamental factors are keeping prices high.
OPEC has asked non-member producers, who account for about 60 per cent of global production, to raise output.
Meanwhile, oil prices climbed on Thursday after oil sector employers in strike-torn Norway called a lock-out on production platforms, which was expected to halt almost all output from the world's third-biggest exporter.
However, prices later cooled somewhat as traders bet the Norwegian government would step in to try to resolve the dispute.
The price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August gained 15 cents to 35.18 dollars per barrel in early trading.
New York's reference light sweet crude for August delivery rose 13 cents to 37.70 dollars a barrel in pre-opening electronic deals.
The Punch, Friday, 25th June, 2004.
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