Some countries within OPEC are seeking a production cut of at least 500,000 barrels of oil a day at the group's March meeting, according to a senior OPEC delegate, as it seeks to buoy up prices amid a potential slump in demand.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet at 0900 GMT Friday to discuss its oil output policy in light of a potentially steep slowdown in the economies of the U.S. and Europe and with crude trading around $91 a barrel, $9 below its record high set earlier this month.
OPEC officials and analysts think the formal output quotas in place for 12 of the 13-member cartel will be unchanged on Friday, but that there could be a move to cut output at its next meeting in March.
"We will definitely see at least a 500,000 barrels a day (cut) in March, and many member countries are up for it," the OPEC senior delegate told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Many reasons warrant it, mainly the low demand season," he added. "OPEC members will also be closely monitoring signs for a slowdown in the U.S. economy, and that will help them make a decision on a cut."
Global energy demand tends to fall in the second quarter as many refineries go down for seasonal maintenance.
The official said a production decrease of "at least" such magnitude was warranted and would "retract the additional barrels agreed last September."
Moving to meet rising energy demand and ease concerns about record high oil prices, OPEC agreed in September to bring an additional 500,000 barrels a day of crude to global markets and hike its official output quota to 27.253 million barrels a day.
The move recognized unofficial increases in production by OPEC members this year, bringing them back under the cartel's official quota system ahead of the winter.
The group left production levels unchanged in December and is expected to do the same on Friday as it gauges the health of global energy demand and the impact of a series of deep interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.