Oil producers' interests must be represented at a major UN climate change summit in December, the president of the OPEC crude producers' cartel urged at its output meeting on Wednesday.

"Oil producers must ensure that their interests are properly represented in the post-Kyoto agreement," Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, Angola's oil minister and current OPEC president, told ministers at the start of the talks.

World leaders at the landmark climate summit in Copenhagen in December will try to seal a new accord to fight climate change after the Kyoto Protocol requirements expire in 2012.

"There is much at stake here for both present and future generations in our member countries," de Vasconcelos said, stressing that Wednesday's meeting would address the issue.

"We are optimistic that the darkest days of financial turmoil and economic recession are behind us," he said.

"This should leave us with more time to address bigger issues facing mankind, notably eradication of poverty, sustainable development and the environment."