Venezuela, Russia instrumental in OPEC agreement signing in Vienna - embassy

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Venezuela and Russia have played a fundamental role in the signing of the OPEC agreement on crude oil reduction in Vienna on November 30, Minister-Counsellor of Venezuela’s embassy in Moscow Hoglis Martinez said Monday. "Energy is the key pressing issue, the hottest topic of all discussions. Last week OPEC made a historic agreement in Vienna. Venezuela and Russia played a fundamental role in this agreement," he said. According to the agreements reached in Vienna, OPEC member-states will reduce daily average oil production by 1.164 mln barrels starting January 1, 2017. Saudi Arabia will cut output by 486,000 barrels of oil per day, Iraq - by 210,000 barrels, United Arab Emirates - by 139,000 barrels, Kuwait - by 131,000 barrels, Venezuela - by 95,000 barrels, Angola - by 80,000 barrels, Algeria - by 50,000 barrels, Qatar - by 30,000 barrels, Ecuador - by 26,000 barrels, Gabon - by 9,000 barrels of oil. Iran will not cut, and may even boost crude production by 90,000 barrels per day as the country had been under international sanctions for a long time. Nigeria and Libya will not reduce production either. Now OPEC will have to make a similar deal with non-OPEC members. The cartel expects them to cut crude production by 600,000 barrels per day in 2017, including a reduction of 300,000 barrels per day by Russia. Read more