$ 4.10 a gallon , said survey publisher Trilby Lundberg . That is up 9.7 cents a gallon from the same survey two weeks ago , Lundberg said . Sen. Charles Schumer , D-New York , downplayed the Saudi increase . `` Nice try , but no cigar . When gas is at $ 4 per gallon , demand increases almost daily , and the Saudis have millions of barrels per day more in spare capacity , '' he said . `` This is n't nearly good enough . '' Al-Naimi , the petroleum minister , also said the Saudi government will invest in oil projects that would allow Saudi Arabia to have the capacity to produce 12.5 million barrels per day by the end of next year . King Abdullah 's announcement came at the end of the Jeddah energy summit , where he also called for OPEC to set aside $ 1 billion for a strategy to ease the oil price crisis . He said $ 500 million should be given to developing nations to help them get the energy they need . King Abdullah said there are `` many factors that made oil prices high . ''
JEDDAH , Saudi Arabia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Saudi King Abdullah confirmed Sunday that his country will increase daily oil production from 9 million barrels to 9.7 million in the near future to counter the sharp rise in international oil prices . Saudi Arabia has announced an increase in oil production in a bid to ease the pressure on oil prices . The Saudi petroleum minister , Ali I. Al-Naimi , said the country will reach the 9.7 million level by July . The announcement comes after Saudi officials announced modest increases . It would be Saudi Arabia 's highest production rate since 1981 . White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto praised the step , saying , `` Any increase in production in today 's oil market is welcome . It is important that we also take steps to increase domestic production and our refining capacity . '' Meanwhile , the average price of gasoline in the U.S. rose nearly 10 cents in the past two weeks to almost $ 4.10 a gallon for self-serve regular , according to a national survey released Sunday . The survey showed the national average was just a fraction of a cent under