Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, Angola’s oil minister and OPEC president (L) and Abdalla El-Badri, OPEC secretary-general, arrive for a news conference in Vienna, Austria, last month

OPEC, the supplier of 40 percent of the world’s oil, is unlikely to increase output when the group meets in Vienna in September, Qatar’s oil minister said.

Crude oil has climbed 62 percent this year, after plunging more than US$100 in five months at the end of 2008 as the global recession curbed demand for the fuel. Oil futures closed above $70 a barrel on June 9 for the first time since November as the dollar dropped against most of its major counterparts, spurring investors to purchase energy futures and other commodities.

OPEC will only consider raising output when the price climbs to $100 a barrel, Kuwaiti Oil Minister

Sheikh Ahmed al-Abdullah al-Sabah said last week. The group is scheduled to meet September 9.

Crude oil for July delivery closed at $72.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on June 12. Oil is poised to reach $75 a barrel after rising above $73 on June 11, according to technical analysis by Newedge USA LLC.

Speculation, lower inventories and an increase in demand are pushing the prices higher, AlAttiyah said. He declined to comment on a year-end price target for crude.

Source: Bloomberg