Saudi Arabia, Venezuela Agree To Collaborate To Restore Oil Prices: Minister

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, with visiting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at his palace in Riyadh on Dec 12, 2015. Photo courtesy of SPA

The authorities of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have agreed to cooperate on restoring the plummeting oil prices, Venezuelan Finance Minister Rodolfo Marco Torres said Sunday.

“Excellent meeting with important results. We agreed to work to restore the market and oil prices,” Torres said on his Twitter account, following a meeting between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi.

Maduro is currently on tour throughout a number of oil-producing countries in a bid to cut production and boost oil prices. The president has already visited Iran and is set to continue his travel to Qatar and Algeria.

Oil prices have been cut in more than half since the summer of 2014 due to oversupply in the market, with Brent crude futures, reaching a five-year low at under $50 per barrel on January 5.

A sharp decline was noted after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose 12 member states account for some 40 percent of world oil output, decided not to cut production at its November summit.

During Maduro’s visit to Iran last week, the Venezuelan president and and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, whose country is also heavily dependent on oil prices, agreed to cooperate within OPEC to reverse the price downfall.

Excelente reunión con importantes resultados. Acordamos trabajar para recuperar mercado y precios del petróleo pic.twitter.com/fXjKBXGawW

— Rodolfo Marco Torres (@RMarcoTorres) January 11, 2015

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Courtesy of Sputnik