U.S.' Abraham says gasoline prices could rise to 1.60-1.70 usd

WASHINGTON (AFX) - U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said that U.S. gasoline prices could increase to an average 1.60 to 1.70 usd a gallon this summer, partly because of a lack of spare refining capacity.	    Abraham was speaking at a Congressional hearing into the Department of Energy's financial year 2002 budget.	    The secretary said that the country's inventory of gasoline has improved in the last week, but he cautioned that "we are going to see this pattern of (gasoline) price spiking continuing throughout the months ahead."	    "First, obviously gasoline prices are a function of the overall supply of oil. I think its become quite clear in the last couple of years that the oil producing countries who work through the OPEC organization have sought to focus on production level variations to maintain a certain price, or a certain price range," said Abraham.	    He said that the U.S. administration does not see OPEC's "cohesion" on this changing in the near term.	    "What that of course means, is that other countries are putting their own interests first, and I think it calls upon on the United States and others who are on the oil consuming side of the equation to put our interests first," he said, saying this is a supportive argument for increasing U.S. domestic production of oil and gas.    

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