OPEC president urges further cut

Associated Press

ALGIERS, Algeria — OPEC President Chakib Khelil urged countries outside the oil cartel to agree to more production cuts in a bid to stabilize plunging oil prices.

"We are still talking with non-OPEC producers to convince them to share efforts to stabilize prices," Khelil, who is also Algeria's Energy Minister, told the official APS news agency Saturday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to reduce its output by 1.5 million barrels a day as of Jan. 1 on the condition that non-OPEC members, including Norway, Russia and Mexico, agree to take similar action.

The Vienna-based organization hoped to reach an agreement with non-OPEC producers before Jan. 1, Khelil said.

OPEC expressed disappointment Friday at Russia's decision to reduce oil production by 50,000 barrels a day — less than 1 percent of its output — for the rest of the year.

Norway last week agreed to reduce production by 100,000 to 200,000 barrels a day, while Mexico has promised to cut its production by 100,000 barrels a day.

Facing a slump in petroleum demand that has pushed prices down nearly 30 percent over the last two months, the oil cartel has asked non-OPEC members to cut production by a combined 500,000 barrels a day.