Paris /Oran, Algeria - Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are expected to approve a cut in oil production of up to 2 million barrels per day when they meet later Wednesday in the Algerian city of Oran.

With global oil demand falling this year for the first time since 1983, the 12-member cartel has already found consensus that a drastic production cut is necessary to shore up the price of oil, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said.

The price of a barrel of crude oil has fallen by some 70 per cent in five months because of the global economic slump.