(Adds Chu's comments on climate change)

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Friday he wants OPEC to carry out an oil production policy that will help keep oil and gasoline prices stable "as much as possible."

When Chu travels to Rome this weekend to meet with energy ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries, he will have an opportunity to speak with energy representatives from Saudi Arabia who will also attend the G8 summit ahead of OPEC's May 28 meeting in Vienna.

"Sudden drops and sudden rises (in oil and gasoline prices) hurt everybody equally, and it's that stability that we seek," Chu told Reuters in an interview to preview the G8 meeting.

Chu noted that U.S. oil and gasoline prices "have gone up a bit" in recent weeks, with crude rising $10 a barrel and gasoline jumping 23 cents a gallon since the beginning of the month.

"Another price spike would be bad for the economy and they (OPEC members) know it," he said.

Separately, Chu said the United States will be in a better position at the G8 meeting to talk about climate change, a key objective of the Rome summit, now that a congressional committee this week approved historic legislation to cap and then slowly reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. [ID:nN21298436]

"It's a signal that the United States is now back in the game," Chu said.

The Obama administration has made implementing a plan to slash U.S. greenhouse gases a top priority. Earlier this week, President Barack Obama also announced the government would significantly boost the fuel economy of cars and trucks and cut emissions spewed from vehicle tailpipes.

That was a stark policy change from former president George W. Bush's administration, which withdrew the United States from the international Kyoto accord that aimed to reduce emissions that cause global warming.

"I think given where we have been ... it is very important for the United States to get started in this process and really say as a country: 'We are going to begin to work hard to first limit, then decrease our carbon emissions,'" Chu said.

Chu said he was very hopeful the U.S. Congress would pass a final bill by the end of this year that would establish a U.S. plan to fight global warming. (Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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