NEW YORK -- The expected reduction in crude oil production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is now up to 1.4 million barrels per day, nearly three times the original planned cut of 500,000 barrels per day.

According to a Reuters report yesterday, OPEC members are likely to agree on the cut when the cartel's delegates meet next week, an OPEC official said Monday.

OPEC members are considering cutting output by 1.2 million to 1.4 million barrels a day, or 5 percent to 6 percent of their official production, an OPEC official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity from the group's headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

The comments came after OPEC Secretary-general Ali Rodriguez told reporters that cuts of more than 1 million barrels a day were a “possibility.” Rodriguez, speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, did not specify the exact size of the possible cuts.

World crude prices have continued to weaken due to the sharp decrease in global economic activity, a slump compounded by the terror attacks on the United States.

On Friday, the price for OPEC's benchmark blend of seven crudes was $17.81 a barrel, down 30 percent from $25.56 a barrel on Sept. 10--the day before the attacks. Representatives of OPEC's 11 member nations plan to meet Wednesday of next week to assess market conditions and set production policy. OPEC has announced cuts in output three times this year already.

OPEC members Iraq, Venezuela and Qatar have taken the lead in calling for the group to curtail production further in hopes of supporting prices. All three have called recently for an additional cut of 1 million barrels, or 4 percent of OPEC's official daily output of 23.2 million barrels.

For such a strategy to have the desired impact, however, non-OPEC suppliers such as Norway, Russia and Mexico would have to cut their output in parallel with OPEC. So far, most have refused, meaning that they would gain market share at OPEC's expense if the cartel's members were to cut production on their own.