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Washington: President George W. Bush doesn't expect word of oil output additions to come out of a conference between producers and consumers that opens in Saudi Arabia this weekend, a spokesman said.
"No one is expecting to see announcements of increased production,'' spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters at a White House briefing.
Oil futures for July delivery, which were down more than $2 a barrel this morning, surged on the comments, rising $2.67, or 2 percent, to settle at $136.68 at 2:44 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price reached a record $139.89 on June 16 and has risen 98 percent in the past year.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman will lead the U.S. delegation to the conference, which begins June 22 in Jeddah, Fratto said. Bodman said extra output "will help,'' especially if it's discounted.
"I simply do not know what they're going to announce and how they will go about doing it,'' he said. "It will be an interesting day.''
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah told United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon on June 14 that his country would boost output by 200,000 barrels a day to 9.7 million barrels a day next month, according to UN spokesman Farhan Haq.
Ban told reporters in Jeddah that Saudi Arabia would ``take the necessary measures to stabilize the price of oil,'' according to a transcript of his remarks.
An OPEC official said June 15 that Saudi Arabia may announce an output increase at the meeting, as there is more demand for Saudi oil from "all over'' the world.
He spoke by telephone on condition that he not be identified because no final decision had been taken. He wouldn't speculate on the size of any increase.
Bodman said earlier this week that a Saudi output boost of 300,000 to 500,000 barrels a day would be ``a meaningful gesture'' amid record prices.
"If the market had more supply, the price would go down,'' National Economic Council director Keith Hennessey, said at a White House briefing today. "That's true in the short run, in the medium run and the long run.''
Fratto said Bodman's task at the conference would be to "explain our view of how the markets are operating, in terms of supply and demand and also in terms of some things that we think would help, like transparency and greater investment in oil exploration and development around the world.''
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