June 13, 2005 1:30 AM, EDT

OPEC Reportedly to Keep Output Levels High

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PEC ministers are likely to keep crude oil output at or near capacity levels when they meet Wednesday in Vienna, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Kuwait’s oil minister, who is OPEC’s president, said the cartel is trying to gain support for boosting its official ceiling by 500,000 barrels a day, to 28 million barrels, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices fell in overnight trading after Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said Saturday he backed a plan to raise OPEC countries’ output, Bloomberg reported.

Crude prices fell as much as 49 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange, to $53.05 a barrel, Bloomberg said.

Prices had also fallen because Tropical Storm Arlene, the first of the hurricane season, moved inland this weekend without causing any major disruptions to oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, Bloomberg reported.