WASHINGTON (AFX) - UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said that OPEC should consider ways of boosting oil production when it holds its next ministerial meeting in Caracas on June 1.
Brown told reporters OPEC 'must look at its production quotas and it must look at both how we can increase output and refining capacity'.
OPEC output quotas are currently fixed at 28 mln barrels per day.
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors yesterday called for increased investment in the oil sector, in order to bring oil prices under control.
'We urge investment in exploration, production, energy infrastructure, and refinery capacity,' they said in the communique issued at the end of their meeting here.
Brown said 'greater transparency' is also needed in the oil market.
'It is still not good enough that we do not know the reserves that are available and the demand requirements for the future,' he said. steve.whitehouse@afxnews.com sw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited