Venezuela's oil minister not to attend OPEC meeting

Energy
Rafael Ramírez, the Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Petroleum, will skip the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Angola to be held on Tuesday, government officials said.

It was not immediately possible to know the reasons why the Minister declined to attend the meeting. On Monday, Ramírez was in Caracas in touch with Chinese officials, in the context of bilateral agreements.

"The Minister will not attend OPEC meeting," a government official told Reuters.

The OPEC is likely to maintain its oil output on Tuesday's meeting, although it will possibly ask for better compliance with existing quotas.

On Monday, the US benchmark crude was trading at USD 73.30 per barrel, after declining briefly below USD 70 a barrel.