CARACAS, Aug 28: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday said oil prices were fair, and the nation’s energy minister said OPEC should keep output steady or make cuts at its next meeting in September.

“Oil is stabilizing (at) a price that seems fair to me, 100 and something dollars per barrel,” Chavez said during a televised broadcast. “We will closely watch the stability of prices and the security of supplies.”

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said prices were stabilising at a “rational level” and said OPEC should maintain production levels or possibly make cuts at its upcoming meeting next month.

“At this meeting we are going to see what the price tendencies are, the price has been coming down but it has stabilised in a segment that seems reasonable,” Ramirez told state television.

Venezuela’s proposal “is to maintain (production levels), or if there is the perception and an agreement that something must be done to reduce production, we would do it,” he said.—Reuters