The small, oil producing nation of five million said it will consult with other governments before deciding how much it will reduce production.
Norwegian oil minister, Mr Einar Steensnaes, said his nation would announce a figure "well before Christmas". As a result, OPEC has delayed announcing its six per cent production cut, which in turn sent oil prices down. At time of writing, oil was trading at around $US19 a barrel (bbl).
Russia has agreed to cut production by 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) while OPEC said it would cut production by 1.5 million bpd only on the proviso that non-OPEC nations would cut 500,000 bpd. According to analysts, Norway would have to cut production by 175,000 bpd in order for non-OPEC members to meet OPEC's targets.
An OPEC official said this week the cartel wanted a round of oil export and productions cuts to last for six months as demand was set to be slow all next year.
"Given the seasonal drop in demand in the second quarter, a cut of a duration of six months is required," the OPEC official said. "There could be negative growth for oil demand for the whole of 2002." He added such an outlook was the view not only of OPEC, but also of such bodies as the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Oil prices are down by about 30 percent since early September, hit by a global slowdown which was exacerbated by the September 11 attacks on the United States. OPEC has been trying to put a floor under the falling oil prices, however, has said repeatedly that its efforts can only work if backed up by non-OPEC states such as Russia.
A Russian government commission was to meet this week to decide how the 150,000 bpd export reduction will be shared between the country's oil companies.
