Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of more than 40 percent of world oil, may cut output by 2 million to 2.5 million barrels a day, billionaire hedge-fund manager Boone Pickens said today.

The cuts will help reverse crude’s decline, he said in an interview in New York.

OPEC will “work it back up to $100,” he said. “It will all be determined by the global economy. If you get a recovery in the global economy, you will get it back up.”

Crude oil has dropped 50 percent in the past year to close at $43.71 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Natural gas, which has dropped 22 percent in the past year to $5.566 per million British thermal units yesterday, may decline to $4 per million BTU if there is a mild winter, Pickens said.

“There is plenty of gas around,” Pickens said. “You have so much natural gas that it is incredible.”

For energy equities, Pickens said he will not purchase shares until the economy turns around.

Next year “is going to be a pretty sick year for energy, but the first of the year 2010 you could work yourself back up,” Pickens said. “Its too late to short anything. Now you’ll fall off a pancake. Everything is down so far. You can’t be impatient.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Burke in New York at jburke29@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 9, 2008 12:23 EST