June 23, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1429

JEDDAH, June 22: Saudi Arabia has announced an increase in oil production and a contribution of one billion dollars to an Opec fund for developing countries hit by the galloping prices.

Riyadh would also give $500 million in soft loans to poor countries to help them finance energy projects.

King Abdullah made the announcements at a summit in Jeddah, convened to discuss ways to tackle the rising oil prices.

In order to cool energy markets, the king also underlined that Saudi Arabia was keen on meeting global energy needs and would supply markets with whatever was required, adding that Saudi production had been increased by 297,000 bpd over the last couple of months.

Agencies add: The Jeddah summit called for greater transparency and regulation in dealings and more investment in production. The summit’s final statement came amid accusations by oil producers that “speculators” were partly behind the dramatic rise in crude prices that last week hit a record near $140 per barrel.

“Participants noted with concern that oil prices have risen sharply and become more hostile due to a host of factors,” said the closing statement from the high-profile meeting of major oil powers and consumers in the Red Sea city.

“Participants agreed that the situation requires concerted efforts from all parties --- producing and consuming countries --- to bring stability to the international oil market for the benefit of all,” it added.

Leaders and ministers from 36 nations also agreed to recognise that “the transparency and regulation of financial markets should be improved through measures to capture more data on index fund activity and to examine cross-exchange interactions in the crude market.”

The communique also appealed for increased investment in crude production to ensure markets have sufficient supplies.

“The existence of spare capacity throughout the chain is important for the stability of the global oil market,” it said.

“Hence, an appropriate increase in investment, both upstream and downstream, is necessary to ensure that the markets are well supplied in a timely and adequate manner.”

The participants also welcomed an offer by Britain to stage a similar gathering later this year to assess what progress had been made.

The statement added that all nations wanted to promote greater energy efficiency among producers and consumers alike.

In Washington, the United States issued a statement which blamed surging oil prices on weak crude supplies --- but omitted to mention the role of speculators in the marketplace.

Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman also warned there would be no “quick fixes” out of the current energy crisis.

“Market fundamentals (of supply and demand) show us that production has not kept pace with growing demand for oil, resulting in increasing --- and volatile --- prices,” Bodman said.

“While this problem does not lend itself to quick fixes, I believe there are responsible actions that all nations can and must take to reduce demand and promote the substantial investment in all forms of energy development.”