Weakness of the US dollar has impact on global oil markets; Rafael Ramírez says world oil market is satisfied

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez said there was no need for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to hold an extraordinary meeting because world oil markets were in sufficient supply and there was no reason to discuss changes in production levels. Speaking to reporters at a conference of heavy crude oil producers in Edmonton, Canada, Ramírez, however, warned that the weakness of the dollar and geopolitical tensions were having an impact on the world oil market.

Venezuela has openly stated its support for shifting the basis of world oil prices from the dollar to an alternative currency such as the euro or a basket of hard currencies. He argued that the United States economy was one of several factors including restricted global refining capacity and that financial speculation were having an effect on world markets.

So far, Venezuela's advocacy of abandoning the dollar for pricing oil has found little support from the pro-western and highly conservative kingdoms in the Gulf, most notably Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer on the planet.

The Gulf producers maintain that to move off the dollar might further contribute to the wobbliness of the currency, adding to the United States' economic difficulties. They also warn that were OPEC to shunt aside the dollar at this time, the consequences for the world financial system could be severe.

• Ramírez, who doubles up as president of the state oil corporation, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), noted that Asian markets such as China and India were acquiring an ever more "preponderant" role in the global oil arena.

Venezuela aspires to break into the Chinese and Indian oil markets in a big way. One aim of that is to reduce the country's dependence on the United States, which currently accounts for around 40 percent of overall Venezuelan exports of crude oil and petroleum products. To date, however, Venezuela does not appear to have made significant inroads into Asian markets. Ramírez said he saw no reason for OPEC to hold an extraordinary meeting before September of this year.