Iran, Venezuela Agree over OPEC, Non-OPEC Heads of State Summit: Maduro
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he had agreed with Iran to call for a summit of heads of state from OPEC and non-OPEC countries in the first quarter of next year to decide on strategy for the oil market.
"I told President (Hassan) Rouhani, let's jointly call for an OPEC summit of presidents, heads of state and governments in the first quarter of 2017 to establish a new mechanism for markets and oil prices and we agreed to do that, inviting non-OPEC countries and President Putin," Maduro said in a televised broadcast on Thursday, Reuters reported.
In a telephone conversation on Thursday evening, Rouhani and Maduro discussed recent deals reached between OPEC member states in Algeria and Austria.
“Close cooperation among OPEC and non-OPEC countries is key to stabilize and raise oil prices,” Rouhani said.
The Iranian president further pointed to the position of Latin American countries in the Islamic Republic‘s foreign policy and said the Islamic Republic has always attached great importance to its relations and cooperation with these countries, including Venezuela.
Maduro, for his part, emphasized that the agreement reached among OPEC members last month in Vienna was a victory for all of the countries and its achievements will be revealed in coming months.
The OPEC members agreed in November to reduce output by around 1.2 million bpd from January 2017, a move that bolstered crude prices.
Iran was exempted from the cut, being allowed to boost production slightly from its October level - a victory for Tehran, which has long argued it needs to regain market share lost under sanctions.