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CARACAS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro embarked on a four-day international trip on Thursday that includes visits to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar and Azerbaijan as the cash-strapped government seeks to ease a steep recession.
"It's a tour of several countries, a lightning trip, a necessary one, ultra-necessary, because winter is coming and it was in winter two years ago that oil prices tumbled," Maduro said in a televised broadcast before leaving the country.
Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who also heads state oil company PDVSA
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed in Algiers on Sept. 28 to reduce production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day, which would be its first output cut since 2008. Another meeting on Nov. 30 is set to firm up details of the accord.
Venezuela, considered an oil price hawk, has been upbeat about the chances of non-OPEC producer countries, including Russia, joining in alongside OPEC.
Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserves, has seen its crude output tumble this year amid a cash crunch.
(Reporting by Corina Pons and Alexandra Ulmer, editing by G Crosse) ((alexandra.ulmer@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter @ReutersVzla, @AlexandraUlmer; +58-212-655-2656; Reuters Messaging: alexandra.ulmer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
"It's a tour of several countries, a lightning trip, a necessary one, ultra-necessary, because winter is coming and it was in winter two years ago that oil prices tumbled," Maduro said in a televised broadcast before leaving the country.
Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who also heads state oil company PDVSA
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed in Algiers on Sept. 28 to reduce production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day, which would be its first output cut since 2008. Another meeting on Nov. 30 is set to firm up details of the accord.
Venezuela, considered an oil price hawk, has been upbeat about the chances of non-OPEC producer countries, including Russia, joining in alongside OPEC.
Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserves, has seen its crude output tumble this year amid a cash crunch.
(Reporting by Corina Pons and Alexandra Ulmer, editing by G Crosse) ((alexandra.ulmer@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter @ReutersVzla, @AlexandraUlmer; +58-212-655-2656; Reuters Messaging: alexandra.ulmer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
