Mexico Shows Support for Venezuela OPEC Stance
CARACAS, Venezuela, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Mexico's energy minister Ernesto Martens met with his Venezuelan counterpart and expressed support for Venezuela's stance on OPEC maintaining current oil production quotas, a government source said on Saturday.
"They talked about various fundamental themes," a source at the Venezuelan ministry of energy said. "He showed an inclination to support the strategy of Venezuela in OPEC maintaining the current levels of production," the source said.
Martens arrived in Venezuela on Friday for private talks with Venezuelan energy minister Rafael Ramirez, head of PDVSA state oil firm Ali Rodriguez and other oil officials and left for Mexico on Saturday, the ministry source said.
Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, has said that it will not support an increase in OPEC quotas when the cartel meets on Sept. 19 in Japan to discuss production policy. Mexico is not a member of OPEC.
Mexican President Vicente Fox has said his nation shared OPEC's position on world oil prices. OPEC price hawks, including Venezuela and Kuwait, have said they want quotas maintained, but analysts believe Saudi Arabia wants to release more oil into the markets to avoid price spikes. |
