Venezuela looks for Russia to support oil supply deal
CARACAS, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Participation by non-OPEC countries in a deal to stabilize oil prices would remove a total of 1.2 million barrels per day from an oversupplied market, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed last week to bring its production to between 32.5 million and 33.0 million b/d by cutting some 700,000 b/d.
The group, which meets in Vienna on Nov. 30 to finalise the deal, has invited Russia and other non-OPEC producers to join in making cuts.
“With the deal between OPEC countries, some 700,000 b/d are taken out of the market, and by adding non-OPEC, it’s 1.2 million b/d,” Del Pino said in a televised broadcast.
Price hawk Venezuela, which is suffering a deep economic crisis worsened by a fall in oil prices, has been pushing for a deal for months and has said it expects non-OPEC countries to support efforts to boost oil prices.
Negotiations with countries outside OPEC are “very advanced” and nations including Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan will join the “historic agreement,” Del Pino said.
Iran’s oil minister said earlier on Tuesday that the cooperation of non-OPEC producers would play an important role in stabilizing oil prices.
Both Brent and U.S. crude on Tuesday added slightly to a rally since last week on bets that OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers could reach an agreement on limiting production.
(Reporting by Eyanir Chinea and Diego Ore; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Marguerita Choy)
