OPEC Cuts Oil Production, Venezuela Increases

Venezuela's oil minister said his government will call for an additional oil production cut when members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in December.

"We're going to propose another cut in production," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told members of the congressional finance commission on Wednesday. Last week, Ramirez said Venezuela would like OPEC to agree on a further 300,000 barrel-a-day reduction by the year's end.

OPEC members recently agreed to reduce crude output by 1.2 million barrels a day in an attempt to stem a recent drop in world oil prices.

Later Wednesday, state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, denied a media report alleging that it has not shipped any gasoline to the United States since September.

It acknowledged variations in the volume of deliveries to the U.S. "caused by changes in the conditions of term contracts, for which the number of monthly shipments has been reduced consensually," but said such fluctuations are normal as companies seek to optimize operational levels at refineries.