Maduro Visits Azerbaijan for Talks on Oil Price Stabilization

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino visited Azerbaijan for talks concerning "the regulation of oil prices amid the global economic crisis."

BAKU (Sputnik) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Azerbaijan to exchange views with the country’s leadership about stabilization of oil prices amid the current economic situation, Azerbaijan parliament’s press service said in a statement.

“The aim of the visit was to meet with the leadership of these [non-OPEC] countries in order to discuss regulation of oil prices amid the global economic crisis,” Maduro said during the meeting with Azerbaijan’s parliament speaker Ogtay Asadov, as quoted by the statement.

Maduro also met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to discuss the issue. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino was also a member of the delegation that arrived in Baku.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed in late September to cut its oil production for the first time in eight years. The output ceiling was set at 32.5-33 million barrels a day for the whole cartel. Further details of the deal are due to be unveiled at the group’s meeting in November.

The September agreement was reached against the backdrop of decline in oil prices. Global oil prices have dropped from some $110 a barrel to values below $50 since mid-2014, prompting the OPEC oil cartel to agree on a freeze on oil production.