Venezuela says OPEC should cut output to prevent price crash
Caracas (Platts)--23May2005
Venezuela believes OPEC should consider cutting production to avoid a possible price collapse, oil minister Rafael Ramirez said Saturday. "We will have to evaluate a possible cut in production," Ramirez told reporters. "That is what we'd have to look at to avoid ... a price collapse," he said, noting that oil prices have fallen substantially from their historic highs earlier this year. Indeed, Ramirez suggested that current oil prices are already on the low side of what Venezuela considers a "fair" price. Venezuela's basket of crude and products would ideally trade at around $40/bbl, Ramirez said, indicating a WTI benchmark price of around $50. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said earlier this month in Brazil that a suitable price range for OPEC oil would be between $40 and $60 a barrel. OPEC oil ministers plan to meet in Vienna Jun 15 to discuss output levels. "We will do whatever is necessary to defend the price of oil," Ramirez said. Read more about OPEc in Platts Guide at http://www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/News%20Features/opec/index.xml
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