Iraq's oil minister has said his country would support an OPEC output reduction so that the oil produced is not stored in world stocks.

"We have to make sure that produced oil is used for consumption and not for storing," Hussein al-Shahristani said Friday on arrival in Cairo to attend an OPEC extraordinary meeting.

"Iraq would support a decision by OPEC to cut output either here or in Algeria," the Iraqi minister told reporters.

Meanwhile, OPEC's Secretary General said yesterday that the oil market is 'over-supplied' fuelling speculation of an output cut at today's group meeting.

The Iraqi oil Minister also confirmed his belief that, "A reasonable price for oil is 80 dollars a barrel."

Crude prices are down two thirds from the record high of $147.27 a barrel set on July 11, staying close to around $50 a barrel in recent weeks.

Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, told reporters last week that the OPEC should introduce an oil price band between $80 and $100 a barrel.

Iraq is not included in the OPEC quota production system. OPEC's official output, following a cut of 1.5 million barrels per day decided in September, is about 27.3 million bpd.

MVZ/CW