Eulogio Del Pino, Venezuela’s oil minister, is said to have received a luke warm response from separate meetings with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, meant to convince the Russian oil producers to cut production, Bloomberg Business reports.
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Feb 4 Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio del Pino, on a tour of oil producers to lobby for action to prop up prices, said on Thursday he had a “good and productive” meeting with his Qatari counterpart.
“It would make no sense to collaborate with only Venezuela, with no support from other OPEC members, more powerful Arabic countries”, said Alexander Kornilov, oil analyst at Moscow-based Aton.
The Venezuelan minister is scheduled to visit Riyadh for further negotiations. While the Saudis have said they would be willing to cooperate with other producers to stabilize the market, there is no plan for talks between OPEC and Russian Federation. “Iran is the first OPEC country which I visited to hold talks”, the Shana news agency cited him as saying.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, seeking to mitigate the impact the decline in oil prices is having on the country’s economy, sent Del Pino on a tour of oil producers.
He also welcomed removal of sanctions against Iran and expressed hope that Venezuela and Iran will continue cooperation.
Brent crude has dropped from US$115 a barrel in June 2014 to less than US$30 last month.
Saudi Arabia, which maintains huge influence in OPEC, is now running into difficulties after their huge gamble last November opting to flood the market and drive out their rivals.
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Lack of industry and an expensive campaign of regional funding rooted in a foreign policy of countering Iranian influence, including the onslaught in Yemen, is expected to deplete Saudi financial resources.
