DOHA: Qatar is considering funding projects in Venezuela, as the Latin American state lobbies fellow crude producers to help repair the damage done to its economy by plummeting oil revenues.
Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s President said that his country was firming up billions of dollars of financing from Qatari banks. Qatar said the country was still studying the possibility of investing in Venezuela’s energy, real estate and tourism sectors.
With crude prices trading around 60 per cent down from their June 2014 peaks at below $48 a barrel and Venezuela relying on oil for 96 per cent of its hard currency revenues, Maduro also sought to persuade Qatari officials to support an output cut by the OPEC producer group, to which both countries belong.
Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister said he stood by comments from OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia that the group would not cut production.
Qatar’s current oil output capacity is around 900,000 barrels per day (bpd), one of OPEC’s smallest producers.
Worsening financial conditions in Venezuela, which seeks an oil price of around $100, have fanned market anxiety about a possible sovereign default.
Moody’s Investors Service said there was a high risk of this as it chopped the country’s credit rating further into junk territory, though Maduro has promised to pay bondholders and many economists doubt a default is coming soon.
