$35 Per Barrel

OPEC will agree this week to boost production quotas for the first time in two years, as a 50 percent surge in oil prices this year threatens to slow demand and spur rivals to boost output.

The group will raise its target by about 950,000 barrels a day, or 4.4 percent. An increase would send U.S. oil prices down by $2 a barrel from almost $30 now, the survey showed.

Officials from Iran, Venezuela, Kuwait, Qatar, Nigeria and Indonesia have are oppose an increase in quotas, arguing that Middle East tensions, not tight supplies, are inflating oil prices.

Oil on rose 3.3 percent in New York, its biggest gain in a month, after Iraq rejected U.S. demands for the return of United Nations weapons inspectors. Crude oil for October delivery was little changed in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $29.83 a barrel, up 2 cents, at 12:45 p.m. Tokyo time.

The International Energy Agency forecasts oil demand next year will rise 1.1 million barrels a day, five times this year's. If there’s no increase in crude oil output very soon the oil prices will reach $35 per barrel.

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