Adnoc to cut production from next month

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will pump less oil from its Upper Zakum and Murban oilfields from next month in accordance with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (Opec) move to cut production from January 2009.

A statement issued by the company to its clients said: "In accordance with the Opec decision to reduce production, we regret to advise you the following cut for your January 2009 allocations: Murban 15 per cent and Upper Zakum three per cent."

At a meeting held on December 17 in the Algerian town of Wahran, Opec decided to cut production by 2.2 million bpd with effect from January 2009 to help shore up falling oil prices.

This latest cut means that since September, Opec has reduced oil production by 4.2mbpd.