Monday, July 28, 2008

Venezuela agrees to sell Spain oil at $100 a barrel

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - OPEC member Venezuela agreed Friday to sell Spain 10,000 barrels of oil per day at $100 a barrel in exchange for medicine and other goods, a Spanish government source told AFP.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Madrid, the source said.

Oil prices hovered around $125 a barrel on Friday after reaching a record high of over $147 on July 11.

Spain would make up the difference between the market price for oil and the price charged by Venezuela, a former Spanish colony, by providing the country with building material, new technologies and medicine, the source said.

No date for the start of the sales of Venezuelan oil at reduced prices was announced.

Venezuela already provides oil at reduced prices to several Latin American countries including Cuba.

Earlier on Friday Chavez said the price of oil should stabilise at around $100 per barrel.

'The price according to our interpretation should be lower and stabilize at around $100 per barrel,' he told a joint news conference with Zapatero.

Chavez's visit to Spain was the last stop of a tour of Europe that has already taken in Russia, Belarus and Portugal.

Venezuela agrees to sell Spain oil at $100 a barrel
Forbes, NY