Venezuela seeks OPEC output cut
Friday, 13 March 2009
CARACAS, Mar 12 (AFP): Venezuela will urge OPEC to cut production to prop up sagging oil prices when the group meets Sunday in Vienna, the parliament's energy commission chief said yesterday, echoing a call by Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez.
"Venezuela has been saying it agrees with a new output cut because oil reserves in consumer countries are high and need to be lowered so we don't repeat a delicate situation with regards to sagging prices," Angel Rodriguez told reporters.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about 40 per cent of the world's oil, announced in late 2008 that it would cut production by 4.2 million barrels a day to reverse tumbling prices.
Sunday's OPEC meeting in the Austrian capital will evaluate more recent market developments and discuss whether deeper production cuts are needed to shore up prices.
Several of OPEC's 12 members have urged closing the tap further. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's leading producer, has estimated that a price of around 75 dollars a barrel would be "fair."
Venezuela's Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez on March 3 vowed to slash Venezuela's oil production costs by 40 per cent in hopes of making up for low oil prices that have put a hole in his country's budget.
"Venezuela has been saying it agrees with a new output cut because oil reserves in consumer countries are high and need to be lowered so we don't repeat a delicate situation with regards to sagging prices," Angel Rodriguez told reporters.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about 40 per cent of the world's oil, announced in late 2008 that it would cut production by 4.2 million barrels a day to reverse tumbling prices.
Sunday's OPEC meeting in the Austrian capital will evaluate more recent market developments and discuss whether deeper production cuts are needed to shore up prices.
Several of OPEC's 12 members have urged closing the tap further. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's leading producer, has estimated that a price of around 75 dollars a barrel would be "fair."
Venezuela's Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez on March 3 vowed to slash Venezuela's oil production costs by 40 per cent in hopes of making up for low oil prices that have put a hole in his country's budget.