OPEC oil producers do not need to increase production when they meet later this month as the factors pushing oil prices to near-record highs are not related to the cartel, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said on Friday.
He also told reporters on his arrival for a visit to India that his country, the world’s fifth-largest producer, would not cut off oil supplies to the United States, its biggest export market, unless the U.S. government “got crazy” and showed any aggression.
Asked whether OPEC needed to raise output, Chavez said: “No, we are producing enough.”
“The increase in prices has nothing to do with OPEC. It’s the structure of the market. We are evaluating the factors in the market,” he told reporters in New Delhi. “Venezuela is producing more than 3 million barrels per day.”
OPEC meets in Iran on March 16 to discuss second-quarter production policy. Nigeria’s top oil official said on Thursday that OPEC would focus on whether or not to raise production at the meeting.
Oil prices have surged over the last three weeks due to a late cold spell in Europe and the United States and worries over possible supply hiccups. The rally has attracted speculators into the market, helping to push prices higher.
U.S. light crude touched $55.20 a barrel on Thursday, just off last October’s record at $55.67. London’s Brent crude hit $53 a barrel, the highest in the 17 years of crude futures trading on the International Petroleum Exchange.
Asked whether Venezuela would stop selling oil to the United States, he said: “We want to supply oil to the United States.”
“We are not going to avoid supplying (them) oil unless the U.S. government gets a little bit crazy and tries to hurt us. If there is any aggression, there will be no oil,” he said.
Venezuela’s relations with the United States have been strained since leftist Chavez was elected in 1998. He has bolstered ties with anti-U.S. countries such as Cuba and alleged Washington was involved in a failed coup against him in 2002.
Both governments are seeking to patch up relations, but Venezuela is also looking to find new customers for its oil to help it become less reliant on the U.S. market.
China and India, both big, fast-growing oil consumers, are in a scramble to secure oil resources abroad.
India’s foreign ministry said this week that agreements in several sectors, including oil and gas, would be signed during the visit, the first by a president of Venezuela to India.
