OPEC set to boost oil production

ROME: OPEC's secretary-general said yesterday there are plans to boost oil production target capacity by 5 million barrels a day by 2012.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are planning to spend $160 billion over the next four years to boost production capacity, Abdalla Salem el-Badri said in an interview on the sidelines of the final day of an energy forum.

The OPEC official also told reporters that issues of supply and demand were being discussed at the forum but that he didn't expect any agreement on whether prices are too high or too low.