Venezuelan president promotes OPEC meeting to "defend" int'l oil price

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday night that his government is "making all the necessary contacts" to call for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to "defend" the international oil price, which has plummeted over the last year.

"We are making all the necessary conversations with the OPEC government to call for an extraordinary meeting and also in coordination with Russian President Vladimir Putin," Maduro said in his weekly TV program.

The president said the strong fall in oil prices has created a new "structural situation" in the world and the OPEC nations need to address the problem together.

"We must advance towards new types of actions to defend the international oil market," the president said.

Venezuelan oil prices have plummeted over the last 11 months from over 90 dollars per barrel to 42, causing economic tensions in the South American nation with shortages of basic goods and products, record high inflation as well as soaring crime.

However, the Venezuelan president has ratified that his government's social investment in education, health, housing and food distribution will not be cut due to low oil prices.

OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization that groups 12 oil-producing nations which produce around 70 percent of the world's crude and possess 80 percent of the planet's reserves. Endi