New York  - Saudi Arabia is planning to make a five per cent increase in crude oil production next month, according to a report by the New York Times Saturday.

The newspaper reported in its online edition that Saudi Arabia wants to increase its daily output in the coming month by approximately one half million barrels, according to analysts and oil dealers of Saudi officials.

The kingdom would then have a daily output of nearly 10 million barrels with the increase. According to New York Times, the measure is an indication that the Saudis are nervous about the increasing political and economic effect of high oil prices.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia is hosting an oil conference June 22 in Jeddah where government representatives from the major oil-producing and oil-consuming countries as well as prominent company heads from the oil industry are expected. A goal of the conference is to look for ways to terminate the rapid price rise.

The Saudi Arabia government has indicated that it is ready in co- operate with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to work toward stopping spiraling fuel prices. Meanwhile, the price for OPEC crude oil continues to rise. OPEC reported on Friday that a barrel (159 litres) cost 129.77 US dollars on Thursday, 88 cents more than on Wednesday. OPEC computes its daily average price on the basis of the 13 grades of the petroleum extracted by the cartel member countries. (dpa)