A U.S. delegation headed by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman will attend a meeting of major oil producers and consumers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on June 22, White House spokesperson Tony Fratto announced Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia sponsored a meeting of oil producing countries and consumers last week to discuss ways of dealing with soaring energy prices and preventing further increases.
Although U.S. President George W. Bush is sending Bodman to the forthcoming meeting, the White House does not expect the one-day talks to result in any commitments to increase production.
"We are not expecting an outcome of this meeting to be additional pronouncements on production," Fratto said Monday.
Saudi Arabia, which supplies about 11 percent of the world's daily oil needs of around 86 million barrels, is under increasing pressure to do something to bring down prices.
The United States has also urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase oil production to cope with the soaring prices.
However, OPEC has maintained that the oil market is well supplied and current prices do not reflect market fundamentals of supply and demand.
Source:Xinhua
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