OPEC Affirms Pact to Reduce Output

OPEC oil producers agreed at an emergency meeting in Vienna to abide by a 15-nation plan to cut oil output in order to ease a global supply glut and raise prices, delegates said. The cuts were approved as part of a historic agreement with non-OPEC exporters aimed at shaving about 2% off world production. Ten of 11 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut 1.245 million barrels a day, or 4.3% of the group’s output. Another 260,000 barrels worth of cuts pledged by five exporters outside OPEC, including Norway and Mexico, will result in total reductions of about 1.505 million barrels a day. That is short of the 1.6-million barrel goal Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico set last week. In New York trading, crude oil fell 55 cents to $16.07 a barrel, before the OPEC announcement was made. Many traders still don’t expect the cuts to end the oversupply that has brought prices down 30% since October.