No Saudi shift after Venezuela oil visit
Venezuela's oil minister has met his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh to discuss stabilizing the oil market which is flooded by a surplus of about two million barrels per day.
Eulogio Del Pino is on a tour of oil producers to push them on an output cut to prop up prices which slumped to a 12-year low close to $27 last month.
Venezuela has been calling for an emergency OPEC meeting after previous gatherings produced no consensus agreement on slashing production as a result of Saudi opposition.
The state news agency SPA said the Sunday talks between Del Pino and his Saudi counterpart Ali al-Naimi were “productive,” however there was no indication of a shift in the kingdom’s position.
"It was a successful meeting and conducted in a positive atmosphere," SPA cited Naimi as saying.
"During the meeting, there were discussions about the cooperation of the producing countries within OPEC and outside OPEC and the importance of the continuation of such consultations," it added.
Naimi said both ministers discussed Del Pino's visits to other oil producers and the outcome of his "meetings that aim towards the cooperation of those countries to stabilize the international oil market."
Last week, Del Pino traveled to Tehran where he said six producers, including OPEC members Iran and Iraq and non-members Russia and Oman, had supported a producer meeting, the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum’s Shana news agency said.
The report came after Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said last month that any OPEC emergency meeting may negatively impact the market as long as there is no firm intention to shore up falling prices.
Zangeneh also said current oil prices harm all producers and certain countries’ insistence on overproduction is politically motivated.
OPEC decided in December to increase its collective output ceiling to 31.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from the previous 30 million.
According to the Iranian minister, “there is a political will behind OPEC indecision over production ceiling in the organization.”
OPEC approved a Saudi plan to scrap allocating fixed production quotas to member countries in Dec. 2011 and introduced output ceiling of 30 million bpd which does not specify quotas.
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