OPEC Agrees on Need to Cut Output--but Not How

GENEVA — OPEC oil ministers agreed in principle Saturday on cutting production to bolster slumping prices, but they remained divided over the size of individual cutbacks and one official doubts that an accord would be reached.

On the seventh day of their emergency meeting, ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut combined production by 17%, to 14 million barrels a day, in an attempt to halt the slide in world oil prices, which have fallen below $14 a barrel in the last three months.

But they remained split on how to divide the cutback among the cartel’s 13 members and were seeking instructions from their capitals, officials said.

The “agreement in principle” on the 14-million-barrel daily ceiling was reported by Kuwait’s oil minister, Sheik Ali Khalifa al Sabah.

“But we need more time for consultations with governments,” he said.

Current OPEC output is estimated at above 17 million barrels a day, but demand is expected to drop to just 13 million barrels daily in the warmer months.

United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mana Said Oteiba told reporters that he considers it impossible to reach agreement, predicting, “We will go home without anything.”