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US pressures Opec to abandon output cut

AFP, New York
US President George W Bush's administration is stepping up pressure on Opec to abandon an output cut as it grapples with a politically inflammable surge in energy prices.
The administration is stepping up the rhetoric to dissuade the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries from carrying out a decision to lower output by one million barrels per day from April 1.
Opec meets July 31 in Vienna.
White House chief of staff Andrew Card revealed last week that the White House was pressuring Opec members behind the scenes.
"We hope that Opec will continue to increase production so that there can be more supply in the marketplace," Card told MSNBC television.
"We'll be talking with our allies that participate in Opec and make sure they continue to keep supplies coming."
US ally Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest producer, but Card did not name names.
The souped-up pressure coincides with a surge in crude and derivative energy prices.
Gasoline, or petrol, prices, have soared, in part because of the crude input costs, and because of relatively low inventories ahead of the busy summer "driving season" for American motorists.
US gasoline prices at the pump hit an all-time high Tuesday, and the retail price will likely go higher because of supply-and-demand issues, the American Automobile Association said.
US motorists were shelling out an average of 1.738 dollars per
gallon (3.8 liters) for self-serve regular gasoline, the highest average price on record, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.
It is a sensitive issue, particularly in the run-up to November 2 elections, and for a president with past connections to the oil industry.
"Like most Americans, the president is concerned about rising gas prices," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Wednesday.
Democratic presidential hopeful and Senator John Kerry immediately jumped into the fray, declaring in a statement: "We need a new energy policy. But George Bush stubbornly refuses to admit that his economic policies aren't working, and now even in the face of record high gas prices, he still stubbornly refuses to change his failed energy policies that are hitting families so hard at the pump."