March 31, 2004

VIENNA, Austria - OPEC agreed Wednesday to follow through on an earlier pledge to cut its oil production target by 4 percent starting in April despite recent high prices of crude, several oil ministers said.

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about a third of the world's oil, will reduce its output ceiling by 1 million barrels per day. A recent surge in oil prices had led some of the group's 11 members to suggest postponing the cut, but OPEC's most influential oil minister, Saudi Arabia's Ali Naimi, prevailed in his effort to press ahead.

Kuwait's oil minister Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who had suggested delaying a cut, was among those who confirmed the group's decision.

Ministers from Algeria, Nigeria, Libya and Qatar also confirmed the agreement reached in private talks ahead of a formal meeting at OPEC's headquartersin Vienna.

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