OPEC has agreed to increase its daily production quota to bring it in line with the amount of oil the group is pumping, Nigeria's top oil official confirmed Wednesday. The output ceiling _ now 27.5 million barrels a day _ will be increased to 28 million barrels as of July 1, said Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's presidential adviser on petroleum and energy. He said the group would consider raising the quota by another 500,000 barrels later this year if high prices didn't ease by then. "The second hike is flexible," Daukoru said. The group also agreed on a new, larger oil basket _ the combination of crude oils that OPEC uses as its price gauge _ Daukoru said. He said the basket would increase from seven types of crude to 11. OPEC members were meeting behind closed doors, with an official announcement expected by mid-afternoon.
