Vienna, Nov 2 (EFE) .- The former president of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) Rafael Ramírez believes that OPEC and its allies should, at this week’s meeting, turn on the taps more than expected to stop the escalation of crude oil prices, so that a barrel does not exceed $ 80.
In telematic statements to Efe, Ramírez, who for years headed the Caracas delegation to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said that the value of “black gold” should be kept in a range of oscillation “between 70 and 80 dollars “per barrel.
This engineer who was Minister of Petroleum between 2002 and 2013, under the government of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, admitted from Rome that he does not know what will be the result of the next ministerial conference that OPEC plans to hold next Thursday with Russia and others. allied independent producers.
The question is whether they will modify or maintain the current plan, which plans to increase the combined pumping of the group of 23 countries by 400,000 barrels per day (bd) each month, a volume that Washington has already described as insufficient to curb inflation and support economic growth. .
STRATEGIC SUPPLY INCREASE
Ramírez estimates that it would be appropriate to double the aforementioned increase, -with increases of 800,000 bd per month-, thus accelerating the return to the market of the withdrawn barrels with the large production cut, of 9.7 million bd, that the OPEC + alliance ( OPEC and allies) launched last year in response to the coronavirus crisis.
In his opinion, oil producers face a key moment due to the current tensions in the energy markets and the growing measures against climate change, so they should adopt a “strategic” measure.
“OPEC must think from a strategic point of view how to continue strengthening the position of hydrocarbons in the entire energy supply chain for the world. That is the fight it has to fight,” he declared.