CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Tuesday that the South American OPEC nation was very concerned about global oil market stability and that OPEC should aim for a minimum price of $100 per barrel.
Ramirez said Venezuela was worried about surplus supply in the market depressing prices and disagreed with the decision of some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Oil Exporting Countries to increase production.
“There are countries in the Gulf that are not following OPEC price policy and are acting more in favor of consumer nations,” Ramirez told reporters. “I don’t want to name them … they are over-producing.”
The world’s top exporter, Saudi Arabia, said on Friday it is determined to bring down high oil prices and is working with fellow OPEC members to accomplish that.
Brent crude prices surged to a 2012 peak above $128 a barrel in March, a 19 percent rise from the end of 2011, pushed up by the specter of a conflict with Iran if the Islamic state declined to curb its disputed nuclear program.
But recovering Libyan oil exports and higher output from Saudi Arabia and Iraq have helped check the price surge, along with the West mulling a strategic reserves release.
Venezuela’s economy is almost entirely reliant on its huge oil industry, and President Hugo Chavez’ socialist government routinely calls for a minimum oil price of $100 per barrel.
In recent months it has got its wish: crude has traded above $100 for all but a couple of days during the past year.
Brent June crude was trading up 10 cents at $118.78 a barrel on Tuesday, while U.S. May crude futures rose $1.32 to $104.25.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
