OPEC likely to meet next week to seal oil cut deal

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) OPEC is likely to meet next week in Qatar amid growing confidence the exporter group will agree to remove 1 million barrels per day of actual production from world markets, an OPEC official said on Friday.

All 11 OPEC producers are united on the need to reduce supplies by 1 million bpd, but have debated for a week over whether to cut from actual output of roughly 27.5 million bpd or from the group's notional 28 million bpd ceiling.

''There is very, very likely to be a consultative meeting in Doha on October 20,'' said the OPEC official, adding it would last a day or two. ''Many ministers feel very strongly about meeting face-to-face.'' OPEC's first plan to cut production since April 2004 was first aired a week ago, but ministers have failed to reach consensus on implementation.

They have been seeking to support a market that fell to its lowest level this year -- close to for U.S. crude -- earlier this week.

Oil's rapid descent from a record high .40 in mid-July and brimming global fuel stockpiles have rung alarm bells in the group that pumps more than a third of the world's oil.

Iran, OPEC's second biggest producer, and Venezuela -- fourth biggest -- are struggling to meet their official quotas and would prefer cuts be made from the group's production ceiling, delegates have said.

That would mean minimal cuts, if any, in actual terms from Tehran and Caracas.

Countries pumping above their quotas say actual supplies should be the starting point for cuts.

''OPEC is very near to agreeing on who is cutting what from actual supply,'' the official said.

Sources said on Thursday the producer group was considering holding a meeting in Vienna in early November to thrash out details of the proposed cut.

OPEC's next scheduled meeting is in Nigeria on Dec. 14.

REUTERS DKS BS18452