AMSTERDAM, 24 May 2004 — Answering calls from oil consumers for higher output, Saudi Arabia was standing firm yesterday behind a proposal to increase OPEC production by more than 2.0 million barrels per day even though the idea was not immediately embraced here by other members of the organization. Despite mounting pressure from leaders of the Group of Seven most industrialized countries to take action to lower prices, ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries deferred making a decision on the Saudi Arabian proposal until an official meeting of the organization in Beirut on June 3.