CARACAS: President Nicolas Maduro said the global price of oil would need to roughly double to $88 (57 pounds) in order to guarantee investments in coming years and reiterated Venezuela’s call for a summit of OPEC and non-OPEC producer nations’ leaders.
Maduro, whose recession-hit South American nation depends on oil for about 96 percent of hard currency income, was explaining Venezuela’s position ahead of a technical meeting of experts from OPEC and non-OPEC countries in Vienna.
He has sent Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino there to press Venezuela’s calls for measures to bolster prices.
“We are going to present proof, technical elements, at this meeting tomorrow, that the average price needed to guarantee global investments in the next five to 10 years should be $88,” Maduro said on his weekly TV programme.
“If the price of oil stays at $40, there will be a depreciation of investment, and within a few months we are going to see a price of $150, $200. Who does this suit? Nobody.”
Brent futures LCOc1 for December delivery were at $48.56 a barrel on Tuesday, while U.S. crude CLc1 futures for November finished at $45.55 per barrel, down from about $85 at this time last year.
The socialist Maduro said he had sent a letter to heads of states of those nations attending the Vienna meeting again proposing a summit. “We are trying to recover the oil market … We should set a date as soon as possible,” he said.
Maduro said Venezuela was working on a proposal to establish a “technical, coordinating committee” among producer nations to oversee production, market and price matters in coming years.
“It’s a central proposal that I have just made formally and which our minister Eulogio Del Pino, who is in Vienna, is going to put on the table,” he said. “Venezuela is taking this initiative with the support of various OPEC & non-OPEC nations.”
Venezuela’s push to reverse the price tumble faces an uphill battle to convince its richer Gulf counterparts and non-OPEC nations. Mexico, for example, is participating in the technical meeting but has already ruled out a production cut.
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