Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) must move ahead with a planned output cut.
Chavez said the cut will bring back a fair price of 30 dollars a barrel.
On his weekly radio program "Hello President", Chavez said he had called Iranian President Mohammad Khatami discussing oil prices and his planned tour of Mideast OPEC-member Countries in May. The tour aims at strengthening OPEC and Venezuela's relations with those countries.
Oil ministers of OPEC's 11 member countries will meet in Vienna on January 17. They are expected to agree upon a production cut of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 barrels a day.