A senior official of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Monday that the country is planning to raise its oil output capacity to 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2009, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Mohammed bin Dha'en Al Hamili, the UAE Energy Minister and current President of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) made the announcement at the 15th Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference which opened in Dubai on Monday.

"The UAE strikes a balance between production and operation costs of new oil projects and investment in energy and costs of establishing new projects as per prevailing and projected international prices," Al Hamili was quoted as saying.

Oil and gas production has been the mainstay of the economy in the UAE, accounting for 37 percent of the country's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, which stood at 163.2 billion U.S.dollars.

The UAE's proven oil reserves stood at 98.2 billion barrels,representing 9.5 percent of world oil reserves. Its current oil output capacity is 2.7 million bpd.