Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday that the Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC) will not increase its output in the near future.
Chavez, who is also the cartel president, is currently in Tehran, the first leg of a tour that will also take him to India and Malaysia.
Speaking at a news conference, he said that in the forthcoming meeting of OPEC oil ministers, “no decision will be made about the production level since there is no reason to do so,” the official Iranian news agency (IRNA) said.
The president said he thought that there was currently a balance of supply and demand in the market.
“The organization will take measures to increase output only when the average price of oil goes beyond $28 per barrel for 20 consecutive days,” he said, adding that this was currently not the case, and that the current average price of $27.6 per barrel was suitable for both producers and consumers.
The Venezuelan president stressed that OPEC would not surrender to any pressure to cut oil prices, and that the member countries were determined not to let the current prices fall, the agency quoted him as saying.
Chavez, who started his visit to Iran on Friday, signed three documents of cooperation with Iran on Monday at the end of his official visit, and will leave Tehran Tuesday morning for India – Albawaba.com
