Venezuela Decides To Attend Saudi Meeting- Oil Min

Venezuela went back on its decision to skip a meeting of energy producing and consuming countries in Saudi Arabia this weekend after the host country insisted it attends, Venezuela's Oil Minister said Friday. 'In the end, we will go. In the end, Saudi Arabia asked us to go as (one of the) founders of OPEC,' Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview. Ramirez said that he had notified Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi that Venezuelan officials will attend. Ramirez gave no reason for the sudden change of heart, but noted that the Andean country's importance as a founder of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) influenced the decision. Ramirez said that Venezuela will support Saudi Arabia's call for the meeting, but made it clear that Venezuela may not support other Saudi measures.