Venezuela will urge the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut production to prop up sagging oil prices when the group meets Sunday in Vienna, the parliament's energy commission chief said Wednesday, echoing a call by Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez.
"Venezuela has been saying it agrees with a new output cut, because oil reserves in consumer countries are high and need to be lowered so we don't repeat a delicate situation with regards to sagging prices," commission chief Angel Rodriguez told reporters.

OPEC, which pumps about 40% of the world's oil, announced in late 2008 that it would cut production by 4.2 million barrels a day to reverse tumbling prices.

Sunday's OPEC meeting in the Austrian capital will evaluate more recent market developments and discuss whether deeper production cuts are needed to shore up prices.

Several of OPEC's 12 members have urged closing the tap further. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's leading producer, estimated that a price of about $75 a barrel would be "fair."

Venezuela's Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez March 3 vowed to slash Venezuela's oil production costs by 40% in hopes of making up for low oil prices that have put a hole in his country's budget.

Ramirez said Venezuela would urge OPEC members to cut production far enough to drive prices up to $70 a barrel.

"There has to be an equilibrium between the price and the necessary investments" for crude production, Ramirez said.

Venezuela, one of the world's top oil producers, has seen the price of its oil plunge from more than $130 a barrel in mid-2008 to $36.73 last week, way below the $60 a barrel the government planned for in its 2009 budget.