OPEC may cut back 2 million barrels a day

ORAN, Algeria, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Tuesday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would cut production by 2 million barrels a day.

"Supply is somewhat in excess of demand. Inventories are also higher than normal," Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi minister, said as he arrived in Algeria for the OPEC meeting which begins Wednesday, The New York Times reported.

"To bring things in balance there will be a cut in production of about 2 million barrels," he said.

OPEC has also appealed to oil exporting countries outside the cartel to cut production.

Russia has said it would consider such a move, possibly reducing output by 600,000 barrels a day, the Times said.

In October, OPEC members trimmed production quotas 1.5 million barrels a day, a reaction to falling prices that peaked at $147 per barrel in July and had fallen to about $60 a barrel.

Prices, however, continued too fall, reaching $44.80 per barrel Tuesday.

"We have to make a very strong decision," said Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez.

"What's important is that there's consensus to cut and that we have to make a big cut," he said.