Britain cheers Saudi oil output hike

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Britain welcomed news that top oil exporter Saudi Arabia planned to raise output but would like to see producers pump more to dampen high prices, British energy minister Malcom Wicks said on Monday.

But Wicks said his United Arab Emirates counterpart did not make a promise to boost output during a meeting in Abu Dhabi earlier on Monday.

"We in the United Kingdom and many other countries in the West would like to see more production," he told Reuters in an interview. "Much of it (price rise) is about demand outstripping supply," he added.

(Reporting by Simon Webb; Editing by Inal Ersan)