OPEC oil ministers, trying to calm a market rattled by refinery shutdowns and concerned about supplies for the winter, were debating Monday whether to boost the group’s official output ceiling or make available 2 million extra barrels a day from reserves.
OPEC President Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah, who is also Kuwait’s oil minister, said the group was considering boosting its current output ceiling of 28 million barrels a day by 500,000 barrels, or alternatively, offer the additional 2 million barrels to test demand for crude and cool near record-high prices.
