Ramirez ... Opec should take action
Venezuela may back emergency Opec meeting after Q1
LIMA, December 11, 2014
Venezuela's foreign minister Rafael Ramirez said the country is considering backing a call for an emergency Opec meeting depending upon how oil prices perform in the first quarter of 2015.
Opec should not leave the price up to the market but should take action, Ramirez said, "That's what we must do, that is our job."
Ramirez said it was up to Nigeria, the current head of the oil cartel, to summon an extraordinary meeting.
"Venezuela is going to evaluate it," Ramirez said. "It's a possibility."
Venezuela believes the oil price should be at $100 a barrel. It has had bilateral meetings with every Opec country on what to do about prices which have slid below $65 a barrel, said Ramirez, who previously served as Venezuela's oil minister.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that the financially strapped country's petroleum export basket dropped to roughly $58 per barrel this week from $61.92 at the end of last week.--Reuters
