OPEC set to reduce production
( 2001-12-26 11:28 ) (7 )

Even without the firm concessions it wanted from Russia, OPEC this week is likely to cut 1.5 million barrels of oil a day from global markets, averting a price war with the world's second-largest oil producer.

The cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will be coordinated with a non-OPEC cut of nearly 500,000 barrels a day in hopes of boosting oil prices that have drooped amid a global slowdown. "It's a done deal," said a senior OPEC official. "It just has to be sealed."

OPEC officials say the group's decision will be announced on Dec. 28 at a meeting in Cairo, Egypt. OPEC agreed last month to make the cut effective Jan. 1, but only if non-OPEC producers cut output, too.