By Susanna Loof
The Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria - The current high price of oil should not prevent OPEC from cutting its output by 4 percent as planned, oil ministers said Tuesday.

Those arguing for pressing forward with the cut say the world market is awash with crude - something that might surprise U.S. motorists who are paying record prices for gasoline.

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Naimi said the 11-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should stick with its earlier decision to trim its output target by 1 million barrels a day starting Thursday. Oil ministers from four other countries - Venezuela, Libya, Algeria and Iran - made similar arguments.

OPEC representatives were gathering in Vienna for informal talks on output policy before meeting formally today. . OPEC supplies about a third of the world's oil. Its current output target is 24.5 million barrels a day.

No matter what it decides to do, OPEC faces an uncomfortable choice.

If the group follows through on its Feb. 10 agreement to cut its production 23.5 million barrels, it risks driving up crude prices toward the psychologically important threshold of $40 a barrel. That could damage the global economy and long-term demand for oil, said John Waterlow, analyst at Wood Mackenzie Consultants in Edinburgh, Scotland.

No matter what OPEC does today, it probably won't provide any immediate relief at the pump. Analysts say the cost of crude is now a less important factor in U.S. gasoline prices than are the high consumer demand, limited refining capacity and concerns about possible shortages in blending components for reformulated gasoline.