Tuesday May 23 8:12 AM ET U.S. Energy Secretary Wants OPEC to Pump More Oil WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said on Tuesday the United States may ask OPEC countries at their meeting next month to consider increasing oil production in a bid to lower U.S. energy prices.

Speaking on ABC's ``Good Morning America'' program, Richardson said there were some fluctuations in the U.S. gas market that needed to be dealt with.

``We've got to talk to OPEC countries to consider possibly increasing production, at least to keep their options open,'' Richardson said.

``What we are saying to OPEC, in a low-key fashion, is keep an open mind about increasing production because clearly the markets are tight, gasoline is tight. This is not just the United States,'' he said, adding that Asian countries were also affected.

OPEC countries are scheduled to meet on June 21 in Vienna to discuss oil production. At their last meeting in March, OPEC members agreed to increase production by 1.7 million barrels a day, but Richardson has indicated that did not go far enough to ease U.S. gas prices.

The Energy Department reported on Monday that U.S. drivers would pay the highest fuel prices on record for Memorial Day -- the traditional start of the summer holiday driving season -- after average U.S. retail prices at the pump jumped by 3.4 cents last week to $1.526 a gallon.

The pump price is up 40 cents a gallon from a year ago, based on the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) weekly survey of 800 service stations. The EIA is the Energy Department's statistical arm.

The prices leading into Memorial Day are the highest since the EIA began tracking weekly fuel costs during the Gulf War in 1990.

Richardson predicted the average gas price would be between $1.40 to $1.45 a gallon by the end of the summer.

``We're predicting they're going to go down, and there will be moderate decreases,'' he said.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000523/pl/richardson_opec_1.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 23, 2000

Answers

USA crawling to the OPEC ministers, begging for crude. We've really got a handle on our foreign relations, don't we? Disgusting. Who has been asleep at the wheel?

-- Ruth Angell (bar@bpsinet.com), May 23, 2000.

HOME: WORLD: WIRE STORY U.S. energy secretary visits Mexico, touts increasing oil outputs 7.33 p.m. ET (2344 GMT) May 27, 2000 CUERNAVACA, Mexico (AP)  U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson reiterated a call for oil-producing countries to consider increasing crude outputs in the third quarter in order to drop gas prices.

Richardson was in Mexico to attend a fund-raising event for a children's hospital run by his sister in this city 35 miles south of Mexico City, but he used the opportunity to press for increased oil outputs to reduce the wild swings in world energy markets. Mexico's Energy Secretary Luis Tellez also attended the event.

Richardson has repeatedly voiced concerns about crude prices, which are currently hovering around $30 per barrel, a price he has said is too high for U.S. consumers.

Mexico, along with Saudi Arabia and Venezuela  members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries  played a leading role in curbing oil production that led crude prices to recover last year.

The three recently issued a statement saying they were satisfied with the April output increases made by OPEC and non-OPEC producers, and believe no further actions were needed at this time.

OPEC ministers are scheduled to meet in Vienna in late June to discuss what further output measures, if any, they will take.

Tellez has said Mexico will increase its exports if OPEC decides to increase output.

Earlier this month at a two-day conference of Pacific Rim energy ministers in San Diego, Richardson said he would continue with diplomatic efforts like those he said contributed to producers' decisions to raise output in April.

"The quiet diplomacy worked. I will be in touch with OPEC ministers and will not rule out travel. ... This is an important issue to American consumers,'' Richardson said.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/0527/i_ap_0527_90.sml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 27, 2000.