US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman urged OPEC on Saturday to take measures to increase production at its next meeting on Dec.12 in Kuwait, hoping that the Gulf countries would expand their output capacity.

High oil prices appeared to have caused "some dampening in demand." "I would hope that the (OPEC) ministers would see fit tocontinue supplying the market," Bodman told reporters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He is on a tour of the Gulf members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

"We encourage producers -- both members of OPEC members and nonmembers -- to make maximum product available to the market," he said.

He urged Gulf states to issue a joint statement detailing plansto increase oil output and refining capacity.

"The goal is to have a more stable pricing environment where you do not get big spikes, either up or down," Bodman added. "Thatenables companies or countries to make more rational decisions on whether they should expand and if so how rapidly."

He lauded the UAE for taking steps toward increasing capacity, revealing the Emirates had briefed him about new plans for raisingproduction.

"There seems to be evidence that certainly here (UAE) there is significant investment in and interest in expanding capacity ... and I hope that this is what we find when we visit other countries," he said.

Bodman said that signing free trade agreements with the UAE andother countries of the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council would help US oil and gas companies make more investment in the energy sector of the region.

At its last meeting, OPEC maintained its official production quota at 28 million barrels per day (bpd). The UAE is currently OPEC's fifth largest producer, with output of just under 2.4 million bpd.

Oil prices fell to below 58 US dollars per barrel Friday, the lowest since July, as swelling fuel stocks eased consumer fears oftight winter supplies.

US oil prices are more than 13 dollars below a late-August record of 70.85 dollars.

Source: Xinhua