Venezuela calls for OPEC summit to help stabilize oil price

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed on Saturday an urgent OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) summit to help stabilize crude price.

Such a meeting was extremely urgent and that leaders of non-member countries, such as Russia, would also be invited, Maduro said in an interview with TV station TeleSUR.

He said that he had written to all OPEC heads of state about the stability of the oil market. "The energy demand of the world is growing daily and this instability is hurting producers," explained Maduro.

"Energy investments must have a roof and a ceiling. With demand growing, having a 40-or-50-U.S.-dollar barrel of oil makes investments unsustainable. We need a minimum price of 70 U.S. dollars a barrel," he said.

During the interview, Maduro said that he had recently shared the idea during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Beijing, where both were attending this week a parade marking the 70th anniversary of China's victory in World War II.

According to the Venezuelan president, they had exchanged opinions on the oil market and agreed efforts to reverse the downward trend of oil prices.

At an OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna in June, members decided to maintain their levels of crude production despite pleas from Venezuela and Ecuador to lower production to stop the price slump. Endi