Interview: Oil prices to recover by year-end, says Venezuelan expert

The price of a barrel of oil will bounce back considerably by the end of the year as it recovers from a historic downturn that slashed prices in 2014 and kept them low through 2015, according to Venezuelan energy expert David Paravisini.

"Prices are going to reach a point that is going to be convenient for both producers and consumers, which is around 60 dollars (per barrel)," Paravisini, who teaches at Venezuela's Energy Sciences Study Center (CECE), told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose oil-exporting country has been especially hard hit by the drop in crude prices, has said "a price of 70 dollars per barrel of oil would be ... a fair price."

In an effort to shore up energy prices, Venezuela has been meeting with fellow member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to advocate joint measures, such as cutting back production.

As part of that push, Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez and Oil and Mining Minister Eulogio Del Pino are currently on a tour of OPEC countries.

Rodriguez has described her mission as "building consensus to take coordinated action in the recovery of oil prices, with the aim of achieving balanced costs and in favor of a good global economy."

"We are very optimistic about the meetings, which seek to stabilize the prices of crude," she added.

The OPEC bloc is expected to hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of the 15th International Energy Forum taking place in Algeria on Sept. 26-28.

That meeting could be decisive in determining the price of oil, said Paravisini, who also teaches at the Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UBV).

However, price considerations may take a back seat to politics, he said, with OPEC's Saudi Arabia using it as a tool to punish regional rival Iran.

"There is an element that would appear to not fit into the puzzle, and that is Saudi Arabia's overproduction ... that overproduction is its final attempt to isolate Iran," said Paravisini.

The Arab country has waged a sustained and ongoing struggle to claim a leadership role in the Middle East, and weakening Iran by maintaining depressed oil prices has been one of its weapons, said the academic.

There is "a great confrontation, going on two decades now, in which it has become evident that the aim of the United States, along with Saudi Arabia, is to dominate ... in the Middle East," said Paravisini.

To boost oil prices, it will be essential for oil-exporting countries to reach a consensus "on freezing production" at January 2016 levels, as Russia, Qatar, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia agreed to do in April, he said.

As part of the agreement, according to Venezuela's Del Pino, countries agreed to establish a committee of OPEC oil ministers to "follow up on the results" and monitor compliance.

"The conclusion of all of this is that by the end of the year oil prices will recover," said Paravisini, adding Caracas "has done its best" to bolster unity and consensus in energy matters. Enditem