LONDON Oil prices fell on Friday as markets awaited fresh clues as to how much the OPEC producers' cartel might chop production when it meets next week.

International benchmark Brent crude for April delivery stood 22 cents lower at $26.46 per barrel in early London trading.

U.S. light crude futures fell 13 cents to $28.26 a barrel.

Markets on both sides of the Atlantic dropped on Thursday despite expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will opt for a production cut at its policy-making meeting in Vienna on March 16.

Recent comments from officials of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia and Qatar have lent weight to speculation that OPEC will reduce production by between 500,000 and one million barrels per day (bpd).

It implemented a 1.5 million bpd in February to ward off any price slide during the seasonal demand downturn in the second quarter.

But the cartel, spooked by forecasts of a global economic slowdown eating away growth in petroleum demand, will have a delicate task deciding how much OPEC can lop off output without harming a fragile world economy.

Indonesian mines and energy minister reiterated on Friday that OPEC was moving towards a slashing output but stopped short of specifying the size of the cut.

"Indonesia is clear. We will propose an output cut. By how much depends on developments within the ministerial meeting in Vienna," Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters.

(Reuter)