OPEC to Cut Oil Output 4%

In a bid to support crude oil prices as the world's economies slow, members of OPEC agreed Saturday to cut their targeted oil output 4%. The cut would equal 1 million barrels a day in production, from 25.2 million barrels to 24.2 million.

"The present weaker world economy and the traditional sharp downturn in demand associated with the second quarter both clearly point to the need for a correction in oil supply, and the conference has taken the decision to stabilize the oil market," OPEC members, meeting in Vienna, Austria, said in a statement.

Oil prices had risen in anticipation of such a move. Contracts of light, sweet crude for April delivery closed at $26.74 a barrel, up 19 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. OPEC hopes that prices will stabilize around $25 a barrel for an average of seven benchmark crudes; the average price has fallen in recent months from more than $30 a barrel.

The production cut will be the oil cartel's second this year. Members agreed in January to cut 1.5 million barrels off their previous target. That decrease took effect Feb. 1.