The cost for crude oil rose above $71 a barrel today for the first time in a month as increasing industrial activity bolstered consumer and business optimism that fuel demand will rebound. As a result, expect to shortly be paying more at the gas pump.

OPEC decided to hold output unchanged at its meeting in Vienna amid signs that the global economy is near a bottom and demand may stabilize. The decision comes as no surprise to analysts since crude prices have rebounded to $65 per barrel, and the dark clouds that had been hanging over oil-producing nations have lifted.

The 152nd OPEC Meeting convened in Vienna, Austria, on 15th March 2009, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Eng. José Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, Minister of Petroleum of Angola. OPEC meeting refrained from cutting the oil output. OPEC will meet again on May 28 of 2009 to discuss the oil prices and the output.

Russia may cut oil production by 200,000-300,000 barrels a day if it joins OPEC's expected output reduction policy, the chief of the country's largest independent producer, LUKoil, said on Monday.

One look at current economic data would send most people into fits. But there's one piece of information that is actually good news: oil and gas prices continue to plummet, with gas now well into the sub-$2 range.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil has warned that oil prices will continue to rise because of the falling dollar, he rejected the theory that oil cartel members were against boosting production to put a downward pressure on prices.

I have been thinking that increasing world-wide demand was causing oil prices to rise, but I was wrong. The main reason that oil prices have been rising is the constriction of oil supply.

According to Bloomberg, crude oil prices rose near record levels again because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned of a more severe hurricane season than originally forecast.

OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah el al-Badri has said oil prices would likely go higher and that the group was ready to raise production if the price pressure was due to a shortage of supply-- something he doubted.

Oil Ministers from the 12 Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) join chief executives of major producers in Rome for an International Energy Forum that begins on Sunday.

Opening address to the 148th Meeting of the OPEC Conference by HE Dr. Chakib Khelil, Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria and President of the Conference.

OPEC oil ministers say they are unlikely to agree to an oil production hike at their meeting in Vienna Wednesday, despite historically high oil prices. Lisa Bryant has more for VOA from Paris.