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OPEC to Cut Output by 2.2M Barrels

TSC Staff

OPEC, the world's largest oil-exporting group, said Wednesday it will lower its production target by another 2.2 million barrels a day starting in January, a move that comes as crude futures trade at less than one-third the level of their all-time high reached five months ago.

Since late summer, OPEC, which accounts for over 40% of the planet's oil, has set plans to cut daily output by more than 4 million barrels.

Recently, West Texas crude trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 55 cents at $43.05 a barrel. Brent crude was gaining 74 cents to $47.39 a barrel.

Elsewhere in the energy complex, heating oil was adding 3 cents to $1.49 a gallon, and reformulated gasoline was up 2 cents at $1.06 a gallon. Natural gas was weaker by 12 cents at $5.63 per million British thermal units.

Among stocks, most large integrated companies were trading slightly lower. Chevron (CVX) was down 1.3%, and Exxon Mobil (XOM) was off 0.7%. Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) was surrendering 1.6%, and BP (BP) was slipping 0.3%.

ConocoPhillips (COP) managed a gain of 0.1%, and Anadarko (APC) tacked on 2.1%. Hess (HES) was one of the strongest performers of the group, advancing 4.7%.