Venezuela's Oil Minister To Visit Russia To Push For Coordinated Action

Venezuela's oil minister plans to visit Russia, Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia beginning Monday, in a bid to stabilize oil prices. "We will meet four key countries, as part of the formal proposal made by Venezuela to OPEC and non-OPEC nations," Eulogio del Pino said in a statement online Friday. Venezuela has led calls for an extraordinary meeting of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and countries outside the cartel, aimed at coordinating a response to the slump in crude prices, Del Pino said. On Thursday, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak has said his country, which isn't a member of OPEC, may discuss 5% output cuts at a meeting in February with other producers. Del Pino is scheduled to meet Novak on Monday, then with major Russian oil producers on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he plans to visit Mohammed al-Sada, OPEC President and minister of energy of Qatar and then travel to Iran and Saudi Arabia.