El Universal quoted Mr Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's minister of petroleum and mining, as saying that Persian Gulf members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Saudi Arabia, should reduce output, following an increase in recent months.

Mr Ramirez told journalists at his hotel prior to the 160th OPEC meeting that "As long as Libyan oil production is recovering, the countries that increased oil production should reduce their current output."

"Yes, definitely", Mr Ramirez answered when he asked if he was referring to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which in the previous conference held in June distanced themselves from the rest of the oil organization, which opposed to increasing supply. Then, the Gulf countries announced they would raise production to offset lost Libyan supply.

The meeting ended without agreement and there was not even a joint statement, which is rather unusual at OPEC.

Mr Ramirez insisted that "This time, OPEC must fix what is broken, and it is not distorted by Venezuela's position."

(Sourced from www.eluniversal.com)