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OPEC ministers agreed to cut oil production quotas by 2.2 million barrels a day, or about 7%, a record production cut, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

OPEC, which supplies more than 40% of the world's oil, told its member countries Wednesday to cut production starting Jan. 1 in an attempt to increase demand and revive prices, Bloomberg reported.

Crude oil futures closed at $40.06 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday, down $3.54 from the previous day's close, Bloomberg said.