Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi has said his country will seek to raise OPEC's oil production ceiling by 500,000 barrels per day at this week's meeting.
He added that Saudi Arabia itself would pump more crude later this year, the official SPA news agency reported.
Earlier, OPEC president Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah also said the cartel might decide to increase oil production if the market required it.
Sheikh Ahmad, who is also Kuwait's energy minister, told reporters that increasing production would be on the table at Wednesday's meeting in Isfahan in Iran.
'If we find there is a need to hike output, we will deal with it in a responsible way,' he said, referring to recent soaring oil prices.
