OPEC hike unlikely at emergency oil talks

By Simon Webb

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Eight-cylinder luxury cars will rumble along Jeddah's highways guzzling cheap Saudi gasoline as energy powers hold emergency talks in the Red Sea port this weekend to brake the free-wheeling rise in oil prices.

Top exporter Saudi Arabia appears unlikely to orchestrate a hike in supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but the kingdom may formalise plans to raise its output to the fastest rate in decades.

Consumers and producers blame each other for the rally and failed even to agree the price was too high at a meeting two months ago in Rome when oil cost $120.

Riyadh summoned both sides and chief executives from big oil firms to meet on Sunday after an unprecedented day of trading sent a shock through the market on June 6. U.S. oil rose nearly $11 a barrel to a new peak in its largest ever one-day rise.

The price has more than doubled in a year to nearly $140 a barrel, sparking protests from Brussels to Bangkok over record fuel costs that threaten the world's economy.

Saudi King Abdullah told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last Sunday that the kingdom would do everything it can to bring "abnormally high" oil prices to "adequate levels."

The market is waiting to see what that means.

"The question is now do they do something about it other than blame speculators? We're looking for more barrels instead of an invitation to Jeddah," said Adam Sieminksi, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank.