THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE) WILL RAISE ITS OIL OUTPUT CAPACITY TO 3.5 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY (MBPD) WITHIN THE UPCOMING PERIOD, UAE ENERGY MINISTER MOHAMMED BIN DHAEN AL HAMILI SAID MONDAY, THE LOCAL NEWS AGENCY "WAM" REPORTED. AL HAMILI ALSO TOLD REPORTERS ON THE SIDELINES OF THE 14TH ANNUAL MIDDLE EAST PETROLEUM AND GAS CONFERENCE (MPGC 2006) BEING HELD IN ABU DHABI THAT "THE UAE PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF CRUDE OIL HAS REACHED 2.6 MBPD AND IS SET TO JUMP BY 100,000 BPD IN 2006 TO 2.7 MBPD." THE GERMAN NEWS AGENCY 'DPA' SAID OIL INDUSTRY LEADERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE TAKING PART IN THE MPGC 2006 AND THEY ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE HIGH IN THE AGENDA THE RECORD PRICE OF OIL AT MORE THAN 70 US DOLLARS A BARREL.