OPEC to Cut Output by 2.2M Barrels

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 Quote) was down 1.3%, and Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote) was off 0.7%. Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A Quote) was surrendering 1.6%, and BP (BP Quote) was slipping 0.3%.

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