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he OPEC oil cartel on Tuesday said it had agreed to cut production quotas by 1 million barrels to 23.5 million barrels a day starting April 1.

The cut is the second in less than five months. Iran's Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the cut was an attempt to support prices during an expected seasonal slowdown in demand, Bloomberg reported.

In addition, OPEC said on its Web site the group agreed to immediately eliminate 1.5 million barrels a day of quota-busting now being pumped above existing supply quotas.

OPEC maintained its quota when members last met on Dec. 4, after surprising the market with a reduction on Sept. 24. Forecasters have said supply in the 80 million-barrel-a-day world oil market will exceed demand next quarter by 2.5 million barrels a day or more, Bloomberg said.

While OPEC's price index has been above $28 since Dec. 2, the price has dropped 9.6% to $28.09 a barrel as of Monday, from a 10-month high on Jan. 13, as concern faded that heating fuel would run short this winter.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude oil rose as high as $33.59 a barrel after Tuesday's announcement from OPEC.

The cartel is next scheduled to meet to review output policy on March 31.

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