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.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept oil production targets unchanged at a meeting Friday in Vienna, rebuffing a request from President Bush to increase output.

President Bush is calling on the world's major oil-producing countries to increase their output. VOA White House correspondent Paula Wolfson reports the latest comments came in Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Bush also issued another warning to Iran.

The OPEC move reflected concerns about raising production quotas at a time when oil prices have been retreating.

OPEC members don't even want to publicly talk about the collapsing dollar for fear it might accelerate the precipitous decline. Of course the accidental airing of OPEC concern from a meeting in Saudi Arabia that people will find out they are concerned about falling dollar will have far worse ramifications.

OPEC is going to establish an environmental fund in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, it will bring together oil producers and energy consuming countries to contribute to it.