President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro addresses panel discussion on ‘Oil and Geopolitics: Causes and Consequences’

October 4, Moscow. – President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro today addressed the panel discussion entitled ‘Oil and Geopolitics: Causes and Consequences’.

Moderating the discussion was American journalist Ryan Chilcote, a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour.

Nicolás Maduro set out his view of the current global political balance and its relationship with the energy balance. The Venezuelan President expressed his satisfaction with the level of cooperation achieved with Russia on rebalancing the global oil market, also noting the success of measures carried out as part of the Vienna agreement to stabilize oil prices. Destabilizing factors named by Maduro included saturation of the market caused by increased shale oil supplies, as well as market manipulation by speculators linked with the trade in oil futures.

Nicolás Maduro spoke of the determination of OPEC members to fulfil their responsibilities. The President also noted that August saw a record 116% compliance with the agreement on the part of non-OPEC countries. “We are always looking at new mechanisms for regulating oil prices”, the President added.