Venezuela will support any OPEC decision on output

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 07, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Venezuelan Energy & Mines (MEM) Minister Rafael Ramirez says that Venezuela will support any Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decision regarding oil output in the event of a US-led war on Iraq.

This includes the possibility of a temporary suspension of output quotas to increase supply in order to balancer out the loss of Iraqi production.

"We will back any decision the group may take ... that also means a temporary suspension of output quotas."

However, Venezuela is unlikely to pump more than its current OPEC quota of 2.819 million barrels per day as it struggles to recover from the two month work stoppage. Ramirez estimates that this quota will be reached by the end of this month.