LONDON (AFP) -- OPEC President Edmund Daukoru has proposed to OPEC members that they should cut their oil output by one million barrels per day (bpd) but no agreement on this has been reached, a spokesman for the cartel told AFP on Monday.

"There has been a suggestion by the OPEC president to the OPEC ministers to consider cutting by one million (bpd) since the market is heavily oversupplied but there is no agreement yet," the spokesman said.

The oil market has been watching for several days for any signs that OPEC might cut production to shore up prices which have fallen sharply recently, and news of the proposal to cut output pushed up prices early on Monday.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, added 42 cents to 60.18 dollars per barrel in electronic deals before the official opening of the U.S. market.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery rose by 53 cents to 60.36 dollars per barrel in electronic trading. Daukoru made the proposal in a letter sent to ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and consultations continued, he added, though for now, no meeting of OPEC ministers was planned.

"There's no meeting set," the spokesman said. "It is under discussion but there might not be a need for a meeting," because the ministers might agree to the plan without having to get together physically.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela have pushed for a meeting in Vienna next week to ratify the agreement to show cartel unity, but the Financial Times reported Monday that other members, including Nigeria, believe a communique would be sufficient.

Citing an unnamed OPEC official, however, the newspaper reported that a meeting was nevertheless likely, with October 18-19 being the preferred dates at the moment.

On Sunday, Iran, OPEC's second-biggest producer, threw its support behind moves by the cartel for an emergency meeting to cut a long-standing output quota to shore up slumping oil prices.

"Iran supports any OPEC production cut," said Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hameneh was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. The 11-member cartel has maintained an output quota of 28 million bpd since June 2005.

A cut in output is seen as aimed at supporting the price of oil on world markets, which has slumped by about 20 percent in recent weeks owing to easing supply concerns.