Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised production 0.9 percent in September, after members set new output targets at a meeting in Vienna, a Bloomberg News Survey showed.

OPEC pumped an average 30.615 million barrels a day last month, up 270,000 barrels from August, according to the survey of oil companies, producers and analysts. The 10 members with production quotas, all except Angola and Iraq, increased output by 155,000 barrels to 26.88 million barrels a day.

The 10, in an effort to lower prices that threaten global economic growth, agreed at the meeting on Sept. 11 to raise production by 500,000 barrels a day to 27.253 million barrels a day starting Nov. 1. September output was 373,000 barrels a day short of the new quota.

``OPEC has every incentive to produce more oil with prices around $80 a barrel,'' said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. ``They are enjoying both high prices and increasing volume. We can expect to see OPEC members exceed their quotas by a healthy margin during the fourth quarter.''

Crude oil touched a record $83.90 barrel on Sept. 20 in New York as a threatening storm in the Gulf of Mexico forced some companies to shut oil-production platforms. Crude oil for November delivery rose $1.50, or 1.9 percent, to settle at $81.44 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Disappearing Table

OPEC on Sept. 14 published a table on its Web site showing individual member production targets. The OPEC Secretariat removed the table after Venezuela protested that the published table wasn't official.

The producer group last year pledged to trim 1.7 million barrels a day of output to bolster prices in two rounds of cuts, one that started Nov. 1 and another that took effect Feb. 1.

Iraqi oil output rose 105,000 barrels to an average 2.08 million barrels a day last month, the biggest increase of any member, the survey showed. Iraq produced 2.48 million barrels a day in February 2003, before the U.S. led an invasion of the Persian Gulf country.

Exports from Iraq averaged 1.67 million barrels a day in September, up 115,000 barrels from August. Exports from Iraq's two Persian Gulf ports, Basrah and Khor al Amaya, averaged 1.51 million barrels a day in September, down 40,000 barrels from the prior month.

Iraq resumed shipments from the northern export route that ends at Turkey's Ceyhan export terminal on the Mediterranean Sea. Exports through Ceyhan averaged 153,000 barrels a day, the survey showed. Iraq also shipped 12,000 barrels a day over land to Syria.

Saudi Arabian Production

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer and the world's top oil exporter, pumped an average 8.65 million barrels a day in September, up 50,000 barrels a day, the survey showed.

United Arab Emirates production declined about 20,000 barrels a day to 2.54 million barrels last month after a gas leak disrupted crude-oil production. Abu Dhabi National Oil had to reduce output by 40,000 barrels a day because of the leak. The loss was partially offset by higher offshore production.

Abu Dhabi increased production in late September and October before maintenance that was expected to cut U.A.E. Output by a quarter in November.

The maintenance program will trim output from the Upper Zakum, Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif oil fields by 600,000 barrels a day. Abu Dhabi produces about 2.47 million barrels of oil a day. The Dubai emirate pumps about 73,000 barrels a day.

Nigerian production fell 50,000 barrels to an average 2.15 million barrels a day last month, the biggest decline of any member. The decline was caused by reduced production of the Bonny Light crude-oil grade.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Shenk and Diane Munro in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 4, 2007 17:34 EDT