Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- OPEC, the supplier of more than 40 percent of the world’s oil, will reduce production if crude prices remain below $60 a barrel, said the group’s president, Chakib Khelil.

“If prices remain at the current low level, OPEC will decide an important reduction,” Khelil said in an overnight interview with Algerian television, cited by the state-owned Algerie Presse Service. “If prices go above $60, it is possible that the reduction will be less important.”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet in Oran, Algeria, on Dec. 17 to discuss whether production needs to be curtailed further.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maher Chmaytelli in Nicosia at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 5, 2008 03:29 EST