"In Qatar, the smallest oil producer in OPEC, we are putting a lot of effort and investment into increasing our output," Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiya told reporters on the sidelines of the 10th International Energy Forum.

The forum kicked off ahead of Sunday's official opening with a meeting between oil ministers and heads of the world's largest oil companies.

"Now Qatar's production is about 850,000 barrels (per day), we will go to 1.1 million barrels (per day) by 2009."

Qatar, which boasts the world's third largest gas reserves, had previously announced in November that it would boost its oil production to one million bpd by 2010.

Attiya reiterated his view that record high oil prices of more than 75 dollars a barrel were more a result of "horrible" speculation and "geopolitics" than any objective shortage of supplies, given major investments in production planned by the OPEC cartel's 11 members.