Venezuela says would back new OPEC output cut
PUYO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Venezuela would back an additional OPEC production cut, possibly of 1 million barrels per day, if it were necessary to stabilize crude oil prices, President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday.
His oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, predicted OPEC will agree to a new cut at its planned meeting in December after the export group agreed last week to reduce supply by 1.5 million barrels a day but failed to lift prices.
The global financial crisis and growing fears of a world economic slowdown have pushed oil prices down near 18-month lows.
"We would agree with new (production) cuts until the price stabilizes. If we had to cut another million barrels per day we would not have a problem," Chavez said at a press conference during a visit to fellow OPEC member Ecuador.
Asked in an interview broadcast on Venezuelan state television if OPEC would cut further at its next meeting, Ramirez said: "That's the most likely scenario. Today, the president said we are willing to cut production again. We believe it is necessary to make an effort to get the fundamentals of the market ... to balanced levels."
Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa predicted prices were likely to pick up by early next year due to OPEC moves.
"If the price of oil stabilizes at a floor of $70 to $80? More than enough," Chavez said.
He also suggested OPEC could study returning to the system of price bands, which the group once used but later abandoned as prices spiraled.
U.S. light crude was up by around $1.43 per barrel to $64.72 by 11:24 p.m. EDT after OPEC ministers said they would take further steps to prop up prices.
Correa slammed criticisms by Wall Street economists warning of economic problems in Ecuador if oil prices continue falling, insisting Ecuador would withstand the downturn.
"This year there is no problem (for Ecuador) even if oil prices fall to 35, 36 dollars per barrel," Correa said.
(Additional reporting by Saul Hudson and Fabian Cambero in Caracas; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
