White House says OPEC production cut "anti-market"

United Arab Emirates' Energy Minister Mohamed bin Dhaen al-Hamli (L) and Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah arrive at the OPEC headquarters for an extraordinary OPEC meeting in Vienna, October 24, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday criticized OPEC's move to cut its oil production by 1.5 million barrels per day as an anti-market decision.

"It has always been our view that the value of commodities, including oil, should be determined in open, competitive markets, and not by these kinds of anti-market production decisions," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

The White House declined to speculate on what effect OPEC's production cut would have on the U.S. economy, which accounts for about one out of every four barrels of oil consumed in the world each day.

The Bush administration has been concerned about high oil prices, which have contributed to a slowing U.S. economy. At the same time, the administration has said OPEC's crude supplies are needed to rebuild global oil inventories.

"Our only desire is that the markets continue to remain well supplied," Energy Department spokeswoman Healy Baumgardner said.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, a major critic in the U.S. Congress of OPEC policies, slammed the group for cutting production when the global economy is sputtering.

"OPEC has a talent for cutting its nose to spite its face. At a time when oil prices are declining because the world economy has stalled, OPEC's actions will only make things worse," he said.

OPEC reduced its output in response to oil prices that have fallen by more than half from a $147 a barrel in July due to lower petroleum demand because of hard economic times, especially in the United States.

U.S. oil demand fell 8.5 percent over the last four-week period, compared with a year ago, and is down 5 percent this year, according to the Energy Department.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; additional reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Walter Bagley)