The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the President of Venezuela on Thursday called on world leaders not to use oil as a political “weapon”.
Mohamed Barcido and Nicolas Maduro discussed at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas for about an hour and a half and agreed that oil should not be “politicized”.
“I would like to take this opportunity to respectfully call on the leaders to respect the basic principles of OPEC (…) by which oil must be depoliticized – it can not be used as a political weapon, or to impose punishment.” , said Mr. Barcido.
A position embraced by the Venezuelan president, for whom both oil and gas should be exempt from “all kinds of sanctions”.
“We see the alleged sanctions on Russian oil and gas and the boomerang effect on the economy and the quality of life in the United States, in Europe and around the world,” Maduro said, referring to Western sanctions against Russia. due to its military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Mr Barcido arrived in Venezuela on May 6 and during his visit toured the country’s various refineries, accompanied by Oil Minister Tarek El Aisami. The Nigerian also met, among others, with Vice President Delsi Rodrεςguez.
The OPEC secretary general, who is expected to step down in August, has maintained good relations with the Venezuelan government since taking office in 2016.
Venezuela, formerly known as “Saudi Venezuela” because of its vast crude reserves, has been the target of international sanctions for years.
After seeing its production fall from 3 million barrels per day in 2014 to a record low of 400,000 barrels in 2020, Caracas began to raise it again (to 680,000 barrels per day in 2021, according to OPEC), benefiting from the rise in the price of black gold in the markets.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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