Venezuela: OPEC Should Watch Oil Output
Thursday December 1, 3:11 pm ET
Venezuela Says OPEC Needs to Monitor Rising Oil Production by U.S. Drillers in Gulf of Mexico
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- OPEC needs to monitor rising oil production by U.S. drillers in the Gulf of Mexico to avoid oversupply that could send world crude prices tumbling, Venezuela's oil minister said Thursday.
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"We have to be careful that the market is not oversupplied, so that there is not a crash in prices," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.
He said Venezuela will review the global oil market before taking a position on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' production levels. The cartel meets next on Dec. 12 in Kuwait.
Ramirez's comments were less hawkish then his recent statements that said OPEC should trim output if prices continue to fall.
The South American country has been one of the oil cartel's leading price hawks, consistently arguing in favor of controlling oil production to keep prices high.
"The oil market must be watched with a lot of caution," Ramirez said, but added that he expected oil prices to stay near current levels next year.
At its last meeting in Vienna in September, OPEC decided to offer the market an additional 2 million barrels a day in an effort to help ease prices.
Incoming OPEC president Edmund Daukoru said this week that there is no reason for OPEC to cut output because demand remains strong.
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
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