26 February 2016•Update: 26 February 2016
HOUSTON
Oil prices rose almost 4 percent Thursday after Venezuela announced a producers meeting in March to curb output.
The American oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate increased to a daily high of $33.47 per barrel after it opened the day at $32.30.
Global benchmark Brent crude rose as high as $35.73 per barrel after it begun the day at $34.37.
Both benchmarks recorded a daily gain of 3.9 percent.
Venezuela’s oil minister said there would be an extensive meeting between his country and Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Russia in mid-March to take additional steps to trim output, after the four countries met in Doha earlier this month and agreed to freeze individual outputs at Jan. 11 levels.
"We have talked with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar ministers to invite them for an extended meeting," Venezuela's Minister for Oil and Mining Eulogio Del Pino said via Twitter, according to Venezuela's news agency AVN.
"The purpose ... is to invite other OPEC and non-OPEC nations to settle their production levels until June to reach a balance in prices," he added.
OPEC will hold its biannual meeting June 2 in Vienna. But the cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, refused to lower its production quota in its previous three meetings. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi announced Tuesday that the kingdom will not cut its oil production, but hoped additional countries will agree to freeze their outputs when a meeting is held next month.
Iran and Iraq, two of OPEC’s largest producers after Saudi Arabia, have so far indicated they will not join the collective effort to freeze output levels.
