CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela will cut oil output by 189,000 barrels a day following a Wednesday decision by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce production by 2.2 million barrels a day starting in January 2009.

The Andean country "will pull out another 189,000 barrels of its production," Venezuela's oil ministry said in a statement. OPEC's 2.2-million-barrel-a-day cut, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said in the release, will add up to a 4.2- million-barrel-a-day reduction when added to OPEC's announced production cut in September.

During an extraordinary OPEC meeting held in October where a 1.5-million- barrel cut was agreed, Venezuela said it would cut production by 129,000 barrels a day starting Nov. 1. OPEC figures show, however, that Venezuela reduced production only by 20,000 barrels last month, to 2.3 million barrels a day.

Venezuela's oil ouput figures are a matter of heated debate inside and outside the country. The government claims the nation produces more than 3 million barrels of crude a day, but OPEC and the International Energy Agency put the figure at no more than 2.4 million barrels a day.

-By Raul Gallegos, Dow Jones Newswires; +58-414-288-7461; raul.gallegos@ dowjones.com