OPEC Could Cut Output In March If Prices Fall-Iran

OPEC agreed last month to cut production by a record 2.2 million barrels per day.

OPEC could decide to reduce oil output again at its meeting in March if crude prices fall further, Iran's representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was quoted as saying on Sunday.

OPEC agreed last month to cut production by a record 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), taking total curbs since September to 4.2 million bpd, the equivalent of 5 percent of global oil supply.

"If oil prices continue to fall, cutting production at the March 2009 meeting would not be unlikely," Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the oil ministry website SHANA.

"A fourth OPEC production cut in the March meeting would not be beyond expectation," he said.

Oil prices fell 2 percent to below $41 a barrel on Friday after data showing a big rise in U.S. unemployment deepened the gloomy outlook for the world's biggest oil consumer.

Oil prices have tumbled more than $100 from a record peak above $147 a barrel last July as the global economic downturn hit demand for fuel.

"The impact of OPEC's recent production cut in the market should be evaluated and in case of being ineffective in preventing crude price falls, OPEC's efforts will continue until the crude market reaches a stable condition," Khatibi said.