Some OPEC states may lift oil output

By Barbara Lewis and Alex Lawler

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and other producers with oil to spare could agree to raise output at an emergency meeting of energy powers this weekend, but OPEC countries say speculation, not supply, is behind high prices.

Riyadh summoned energy producers, consumers and chief executives from big oil firms to meet on Sunday.

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

Saudi Arabia has said it will raise its crude output to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in July .

The kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporter, has a policy of keeping a cushion of spare capacity and has said other OPEC members that can bring on extra production quickly would also discuss boosting output to try to tame the oil rally.

"The short-term policies to be discussed include the proposal that those OPEC countries that have spare capacity should boost supply, just like Saudi Arabia has announced it will do in July," a senior Gulf OPEC official told Reuters.

Looking to the longer term, the source also said Saudi Arabia would consider increasing its capacity beyond an existing goal of 12.5 million bpd by the end of next year.

The two other OPEC members with some extra capacity are the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Another OPEC delegate said it was not yet clear whether they would join in any output rise.