CARACAS, Jan 17: Venezuela is prepared to reduce its oil production in a bid to boost prices in the tumbling petroleum market, Venezuela’s oil minister said in a statement on Saturday.

Rafael Ramirez indicated he welcomed production cuts called by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and said he was in contact with his counterparts to see how best to apply reductions.

The production cuts are necessary to “maintain balance in the oil market,” said Ramirez, adding to several Venezuelan calls in late 2008 for Opec to reduce output.

Opec trimmed its forecasts for global oil demand this week, predicting a bigger-than-expected 0.2 per cent contraction in 2009 as a result of the “depressed world economy.”—AFP