ORAN, Algeria - OPEC on Wednesday agreed to slash 2.2 million barrels from its daily production "? its single largest cut ever "? while bloc outsiders Russia and Azerbaijan announced their own cutbacks of hundreds of thousands of barrels from the market.
"I hope we surprised you," OPEC President Chekib Khelil said when asked whether the size of the cut would shock moribund oil markets into an upward trend. "If you're not surprised we need to so something about it." ....
The Russians indicated their reductions had already been implemented in November, while Azerbaijan's output had already been reduced by about a third due to production problems earlier this year.
Among those hoping for Moscow's support was oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
"We also hope that other producers who are not in OPEC will chip in for the purpose of bringing stability to the market," said Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi said, in a nod to Russia.
Sechin, in comments to The Associated Press, said "Russian oil companies have already made a decision to cut deliveries to the market ... approximately equivalent to 350,000 barrels per day." But he specified that his country's cuts had already been enacted ahead of the OPEC meeting.
Sechin did hold out the possibility of further reductions, saying Russia was ready to pare another 320,000 barrels a day "if we see the continuation of the current level of prices on the world oil markets."
And yet markets weren't impressed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28274997
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