Texas oil tycoon Boone Pickens says retail prices of $3 for a gallon of gasoline could happen in the next few months.

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Pickens told the Houston Chronicle that he foresees $50-a-barrel crude before we see $30 again. Oil is now selling at $40 a barrel.

Pickens said $3 gasoline might curb demand and ease the current squeeze in refining. He said refining capacity drives prices, not oil production.

Oil cartel OPEC said Wednesday it could boost oil production 15 percent.

Several, if not all, of OPEC's members are expected to gather for emergency talks Saturday during an energy forum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The group is expected to discuss a Saudi proposal for OPEC to raise its output target by 1.5 million barrels to try to ease prices lower.

Saudi Arabia is the only group member with significant additional capacity.

Regardless of what happens this weekend, a formal decision to raise the production target would have to wait until all of OPEC's 11 members meet formally on June 3 in Beirut.

Pickens said the Memorial Day weekend will give some clues to how high gasoline prices will have to go before people stop driving.

Tuesday, auto club AAA predicted a 3.5 percent rise in Memorial Day travelers.

For the first time, the average price of gasoline in the nation is above $2 a gallon. The Department of Energy released that finding Tuesday, and on Wednesday AAA's average went to $2.009 for a gallon of regular unleaded.

Bush Wants Energy Plan

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush suggested Wednesday that if Congress had acted on his energy plan when he submitted it years ago, motorists wouldn't be feeling so much pain at the pump.

After a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Bush said he was concerned about soaring gas prices, but that he anticipated this happening three years ago and asked his team to put together an energy strategy that makes the nation less dependent on foreign oil.

The president said officials now are decrying the prices at the pump, but at the same time aren't doing anything about it.

Bush also says he won't play politics with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Some Democrats have called for tapping the backup supply, but Bush says the reserve is only to be used in case of a major supply disruption.