Incoming OPEC chief does not rule out output boost

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AFP) — Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil, who takes over the OPEC presidency in January, said on Monday that he does not rule out a boost in the cartel's oil output at its next meeting in February.

"I wouldn't... exclude the possibility of increasing production if of course the markets want it but for the moment I think we have sufficient supply," Khelil told reporters on the sidelines of a Euro-Mediterranean energy conference in Cyprus.

At its last meeting in Abu Dhabi on December 5, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to keep its official output ceiling unchanged at 27.25 million barrels per day.

But it also announced an extraordinary meeting for February 1 in Vienna, "given the need for extreme vigilance in...