Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Oil rises to a record

Crude oil futures in New York rose to a record on speculation oil producers may fail to raise output fast enough to meet rising demand.

OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil, will this week discuss whether the group can supply more after a promise in March to increase production failed to bring prices down, President Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah said on Saturday. Traders say the group, which is pumping near capacity, may be unable to relieve concerns of a shortage.

"I've always doubted OPEC's ability to ramp up production," said Gal Luft, executive director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. "Those who believed OPEC all these years are eating their hats now. Fifty dollars a barrel is a fond memory now, and $60 is just a matter of time."

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