MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OPEC Chief visits Venezuela to bolster bilateral ties

Barkindo will be succeeded in August by Haitham al Ghais.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo has visited Venezuela to strengthen bilateral ties between the rich oil-producing South American country, which is one of the 13 countries that make up the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“We had the opportunity to greet our great friend, Mohammed Barkindo, OPEC Secretary-General, who is fulfilling a work agenda in our country, in the company of our Minister of Tourism, Ali Ernesto Padrón, and the Nigerian Ambassador to Venezuela, Olorundare Phillip Awoniyi,” said Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia, in his Twitter account.

Barkindo, arrived in Venezuela to “strengthen ties of brotherhood and cooperation” with the nation, where he was escorted by Tourism Minister Ali Padrón.

Barkindo first met Friday with Petroleum Minister Tareck El Aissami to further develop the “ties of brotherhood and cooperation between the nation and the international entity,” according to Venezuela's state-run TeleSur.

Upon arriving in Venezuela, Barkindo was welcomed by Minister of Popular Power for Agriculture & Land Wilmer Castro Soteldo and Science and Technology Minister Gabriela Jiménez.

Plasencia also reported informed that Barkindo's visit was intended to express his sincere gratitude to President Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan people for all the support received during his term, which ends next August when he will be succeeded by Haitham al Ghais.

Venezuelan oil production closed the first quarter of 2022 at 756,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), a 7 percent drop from the fourth quarter of 2021 (817,000 bpd), according to the country's authorities' record to OPEC.

With the ongoing crisis with Russia and Ukraine, all other movements in the world regarding oil production and distribution might turn out to be of strategic importance for the region and the world, according to various analysts.

(Source: TeleSur)