Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, said he would ask OPEC to set oil price...
Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, said he would ask OPEC to set oil price at $50 a barrel as the long term level.
During the 1990s the price of oil had hovered around the $20 mark falling as low as $10 a barrel in early 1999.
"We're trying to find an equilibrium. The price of oil could remain at the low level of $50. That's a fair price it's not a high price," Mr Chavez said.
Analysis by the US Department of Energy (DoE) - seen by Newsnight - shows that at $50 a barrel Venezuela - not Saudi Arabia - will have the biggest oil reserves in Opec.
The DoE report shows that at today's prices Venezuela's oil reserves are bigger than those of the entire Middle East - including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Iran and Iraq.
