Opec denied on Sunday that its Acting Secretary General Adnan Shihab-Eldin said in a magazine interview that his organisation wanted to increase production by just under 2 million barrels a day.
An interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, released before publication on Saturday, quoted Shihab-Eldin as saying Opec members wanted to announce an increase in output by that amount at their next meeting in Vienna on September 19.
However, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) issued a statement saying that was incorrect, and that Shihab-Eldin had said Opec's spare production capacity was currently just under 2 million barrels per day (bpd).
A spokesman for Der Spiegel in Hamburg said the news weekly was sticking to its story.
"In principle we have all our interviews authorised in advance of publication," said Hans-Ulrich Stoldt, a spokesman for Der Spiegel, referring to a standard German media practice of allowing interview subjects to read and clear their comments.
The Opec statement, entitled "Opec not planning 2 million bpd raise", said: "We wish to state that the above statement is incorrect and does not reflect what Dr Shihab-Eldin told Der Spiegel.
"In response to a question about Opec's plans to increase production, Dr Shihab-Eldin had answered that member countries of the organisation still have sizeable remaining spare production capacity, currently just under 2 million bpd," said the statement by Opec's head of public relations, Omar Farouk Ibrahim.
With high oil prices threatening global economic growth, Opec has come under increasing pressure to boost supply and invest in more refining capacity.
The price of crude surged above $70 a barrel to a record in recent weeks due to growing supply concerns after Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf of Mexico late in August.
Opec said last week it was considering measures to help ease problems caused by the hurricane, which cut some 2 million barrels a day (bpd) of refining capacity on the US Gulf coast, though output has since recovered.
Opec cited Shihab-Eldin as saying that Saudi Arabia, Opec's biggest producer, had indicated it was ready to increase production to replace any shortage in the crude oil market after the hurricane-related shutdowns.
"In this regard, Dr Shihab-Eldin mentioned that several proposals to increase Opec production have been advanced and supported in recent days by many Opec member countries ... and that such proposals will be considered and decided upon during the forthcoming ministerial conference," it added.
Der Spiegel had quoted Shihab-Eldin as saying: "We plan a number of measures. We will increase our production. The Opec states with reserve capacity will participate, in particular Saudi Arabia. That will raise the Opec production by just under 2 million barrels per day."
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