Del Pino: We have overcome the cycle of the lowest oil prices in 50 years

The Minister of People’s Power for Petroleum, Eulogio del Pino, said this Tuesday that oil exporting countries have managed to overcome the cycle with the lowest oil prices in the last 50 years.
During an interview held in the “Punto Crítico” (Critical Point) program, broadcast by Venezolana de Televisión, Del Pino reiterated that, as of January 1, 2017, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will assume the commitment to comply with the production cut of 95,000 barrels per day agreed with the member countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and another non-OPEC group.
On Saturday, December 10, OPEC and external producers agreed at a ministerial meeting in Vienna, Austria, to cut production by more than 1.7 million barrels a day starting January 1, 2017 as a measure to drain inventories and thus stimulate the rise of prices.
Producer countries outside OPEC pledged a cut of 558,000 barrels per day, of which 300,000 correspond to Russia, the second largest producer of crude oil on the planet.
“Since that agreement in Vienna, the price of oil has stabilized a bit. We have reduced the volatility of prices”, he said.
In this sense, Minister Del Pino estimated that, with the agreed reduction, the balance in inventories will be restored and the price of the Brent European indicator will range from 60 to 70 dollars per barrel; while Venezuelan crude will be between $ 45 and $ 55 a barrel.
“We expect that the impact this cut will have after it enters into effect in about 100 days will mean a reduction of about 180 million barrels, which will represent a restoration of inventories. We are part of the Committee to monitor compliance with this agreement during the first six months of next year, if it is respected we will bring the price per barrel about 10 to 15 dollars above the current level”, he said.
Del Pino ratified that Venezuela was invited to lead a summit of OPEC and not OPEC Heads of State to establish other mechanisms to ensure the stability of the international market for hydrocarbons and promote a balanced price.