September 20, 2005 11:10 AM, EDT

OPEC Offers to Pump More Oil in Wake of Katrina

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PEC ministers said the cartel supply all the oil its members can produce, following price surges in the wake of damage from Hurricane Katrina, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Oil prices Monday saw their largest single-day gain ever on forecasts that Hurricane Rita will gain strength in the Gulf of Mexico, setting back efforts to restart refineries that remain shut after Hurricane Katrina. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Crude oil futures fell back $2.19 a barrel in midday trading Tuesday to $65.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

OPEC's ministers, meeting in Vienna, Austria, said its members could pump another 2 million barrels a day later this year if necessary.

The offer of additional barrels starts Oct. 1 and lasts three months, Libyan Oil Minister Fathi Shatwan said today in Vienna, Bloomberg reported.

The new supplies will have to come from Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer, because most other members are operating at their limits, Bloomberg said.