Algiers---Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in Algeria Tuesday for talks with the fellow OPEC member on how to tackle tumbling oil prices, officials said.
Maduro arrived in Algiers on a tour of OPEC countries that has included Saudi Arabia and Iran, where he reportedly pushed for greater cooperation between members of the cartel to shore up the price of oil.
He was to meet in Algeria with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to a presidential statement quoted by Algeria's APS press agency.
The two are to hold talks on "the current crisis in the price of oil, and on the ways and means of turning it around, in the framework of an effort broadened to non-OPEC producers," it said.
Oil prices have fallen to six-year lows in the last six months, plunging by more than 50 percent amid concerns of oversupply and weak global growth, with benchmark prices dropping to below $50 a barrel.
Despite the fall, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has refused to play its traditional role.
With Saudi Arabia leading the charge, OPEC nations have refused to cut production to shore up prices as they seek to drive new suppliers, especially North American shale oil producers, out of the market.
Analysts say Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia have sufficient reserves to weather the price drop but other OPEC members like Iran and Venezuela are suffering.
Maduro has made few public remarks during his tour, but was quoted in a statement on the Iranian government's website as calling for "cooperation of oil exporting countries to bring back stability".
Algeria has also asked OPEC to reduce production but said it can handle the price drop thanks to its more than $190 billion in reserves built up while oil prices were high.
AFP
