PARIS Algeria will cut oil production by 150,000 barrels a day (BPD), according to the latest issue of the weekly magazine ****Petrostrategie**** on Monday.

The magazine announced in a statement that it had learned of Algeria's planned cuts, without attributing the information to a particular source.

In a separate interview with the magazine, Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said he was worried about the market's future, especially in the second quarter when demand drops at the end of the northern hemisphere's winter.

But Khelil, who also serves as president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said he did not think the market had completely taken into account current or upcoming production cuts.

Venezuelan Energy Minister Alvaro Silva calCeron told ****Petrostrategie**** he was worried about oil prices "for all of 2002."

The two ministers, who granted interviews to the magazine last week, said the current price of a barrel of crude oil, hovering at about $20, was not enough.

Silva Calderon said a price of $22 a barrel or more was feasible. In December, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika signed a finance law for 2002 based on a price of $22.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in early January that both producers and consumers favored a price per barrel of between $20 and $25.

OPEC agreed in late December to slash output by 1.5 million barrels a day from January 1 in a bid to check falling prices.

It made its decision after key non-OPEC countries including Russia pledged a combined cut of 462,500 bpd.