Venezuela
sees no cut this OPEC meeting: minister
AFP
VIENNA
Petroleumworld.com 01 31 06
Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday he was not
proposing a reduction in OPEC's production ceiling at a meeting
on Tuesday but reiterated a warning that the cartel should be
ready to cut as early as March.
"I don't propose to cut at this meeting, but maybe in the
next meeting we have to cut," Ramirez said, referring to
the next formal gathering by the Organisation of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries on March 8.
"We have to check the market situation for the next meeting,
but OPEC has to be ready," the Venezuelan minister said.
He had hinted at a possible need to cut the cartel's production
ceiling of 28 million barrels a day at Tuesday's meeting upon
his arrival in Vienna earlier in the morning.
Any future cut should be by one million barrels a day, Ramirez
said, echoing a call by Iran, which openly favours a lower production
ceiling.
A majority of OPEC ministers, however, appear to favour keeping
production at a near record high level for the time being, citing
the high price of crude oil, which rose above 68 dollars a barrel
before falling back on Monday.
Ramirez blamed the high price of oil on mounting tensions between
the United States and the European Union and Iran over Tehran's
nuclear programme.
"The problem with the price is the tension over Iran. We
believe that if the United States insists on putting pressure
on Iran, the price will be maintained at the level we are seeing,"
the Venezuelan minister said.
The nuclear question will be the focus of a meeting in London
on Monday between the foreign ministers of Britain, the United
States, Russia, China and France -- all permanent members of the
UN Security Council.
Washington and the Europeans are expected to try to convince Moscow
and Beijing to support sending Tehran to the Security Council
at a gathering in Vienna of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog
on Thursday.
Asked whether the 11-nation OPEC cartel should intervene if pressure
increased on Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil producer, Ramirez
said: "There is not much we can do."
Ramirez emphasised his concerns about a growing stockpile of oil
when he spoke to reporters again in the afternoon.
"It is very high and it is dangerous when it is high,"
he said.
AFP
01/30/06
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