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Iran, Venezuela urge OPEC output cuts to support prices
AFP
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad(L) hugs his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in Caracas.
AFP
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 01 15 06Iran and Venezuela called here Saturday for new OPEC oil production cuts to support plunging world crude prices.
"We agreed this afternoon to coordinate our forces within OPEC," Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in a speech with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Today we know that there is too much crude in the market, that's why we support, we will support the decisions that have been taken to reduce production and protect the price of oil," he said.
Chavez emphasized that he was sending that message "to all the heads of state in the OPEC countries to continue to strengthen our organization in this direction."
Venezuela and Iran will "continue to act as always with one voice," said the president of the only Latin American member of the 11-nation cartel.
The two leaders signed a deal to create an international oil company for exploration, development, production and distribution, one of 11 agreements sealed.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have expressed concern about the plunging price of oil, which has slid some 14 percent since the start of the year.
Such sharp falls prompted speculation that OPEC could soon hold an emergency production meeting.
The United Arab Emirates oil minister, Mohammed al-Hamili, said Thursday that OPEC had "not yet decided to hold an emergency meeting."
Kuwaiti Energy Minister Ali Jarrah al-Sabah said Tuesday that Kuwait was opposed to holding an emergency meeting of OPEC to halt the slide in world oil prices.
"We do not support the holding of an emergency OPEC meeting now. We respect our commitment to reduce (production) from the start of February," the minister told reporters.
"Most of our colleagues in OPEC do not want an emergency meeting now. We met at Abuja and our agreement was clear," he said.
OPEC ministers decided at a meeting last month in the Nigerian capital to cut output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from February.
This followed OPEC's reduction of 1.2 million bpd that became effective in November. But unseasonably warm winter weather in the northern hemisphere and slowing US growth have reduced demand and brought down prices.
World oil prices climbed to nearly 53 dollars a barrel on Friday, recovering from 19-month lows caused by warm winter temperatures in the northern hemisphere.
| New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gained 1.11 dollars to close at 52.99 dollars a barrel.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose 1.25 dollars to settle at 52.95 dollars a barrel.
On Thursday, both the London and New York markets had closed at their lowest levels since May 2005, and crude futures have slumped by 14 percent since the start of 2007.The next regular OPEC meeting is planned for March 15 in Vienna, where the cartel has its headquarters.
AFP 14 0111 GMT 01 07
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