OPEC to raise output, prices fall

Rodriguez, Venezuela8217;s oil Minister, has quot;notified his colleagues that, in the event of prices remaining at current levels, they should be prepared to take the necessary steps to raise output. quot;Other things being equal, it is expected that this will happen before the end of the current month,quot; it said.

The statement says that at their June meeting OPEC ministers agreed to a mechanism under which they would increase production by 500,000 barrels a day if the average price of the OPEC reference basket remained above a certain level of a specified period of time.

Oil prices immediately slumped on the London market, where the price of brent crude for September delivery fell 43 cents to 28.80 dollars a barrel. The surprise announcement came after Rodriguez dismissed calls by OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia last week for an emergency meeting in Vienna this week to discuss its proposal for a 500,000 barrel a day hike.

Rodriguez was on a tour of OPEC members designed to poll their views on the state of the market.