Oil cartel OPEC is to cut its output in two weeks time in a bid to support prices, which have declined sharply in the past week. OPEC secretary general Alvaro Silva said this morning that the group will "do what it can" to support the market and indicated that up to 2.5 million barrels per day could be cut at its emergency meeting on 24 April. Oil prices rose steadily in the run up to the war in Iraq, but have dropped back towards OPEC's price target of USD25 per barrel as to US and British troops began to gain the upper hand in the conflict. At 0800 today, brent crude in London was down 28c at USD25.07. In an interview on CNBC, Silva also said he could not comment on who would represent Iraq at the meeting as he did not know how events would develop there following the fall of Baghdad to coalition forces yesterday. While the cartel will almost definitely scale supplies back to its official limit of 24.5 million barrels per day, it is speculated that it may even go further to protect its price target and cut the formal quotas. ///www.fxcentre.com