Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud yesterday met at his palace in Riyadh Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and discussed ways to stabilise the world oil markets, the official news agency SPA said.

Maduro is currently on an official visit to the kingdom.

Venezuela is one of the leading countries in the Opec seeking action by the group to prop up oil prices that have declined drastically in recent years, causing severe economic problems for the country.

The King welcomed the president and his accompanying delegation and they reviewed issues related to bilateral cooperation, the SPA said.

The talks were attended by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior; Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense; and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Faleh, among other royals and ministers.

The Venezuelan foreign minister and Minister of Energy and Petroleum were also present.

Earlier, President Maduro was quoted as saying that Opec and non-Opec nations were "very close" to an agreement on oil production curbs by Azerbaijan's state news agency Azertag.

The Opec had agreed in Algiers on September 28 to reduce oil production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day.