Chavez sees fair oil price at $70 to $90

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday a "fair" price of a barrel of oil would be between $70 and $90 per barrel, as OPEC ministers met to slash global oil supply.

"We think it should stabilize at $70, $80, $90. That would be fair," Chavez told Reuters on the sidelines of a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders near Brazil's northeastern city of Salvador.

OPEC oil ministers, including from Venezuela, were meeting in Algeria on Wednesday to remove a record 2 million barrels per day from oil markets in a race to balance supply with the world's rapidly crumbling demand for fuel due to a global economic slowdown.

As the ministers convened a meeting which was expected to proceed smoothly, oil was trading just above $44 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has led by example — reducing supplies to customers even before a cut has been agreed to help push prices back towards the $75 level Saudi King Abdullah has identified as "fair."

Venezuela's finance minister, Ali Rodriguez, backed the Saudi view.

"The Saudis are talking about $75. We agree with something around that price," he told reporters. Venezuela's budget for next year is based on oil prices fetching $60.

"At current levels, we would have to cut government expenditures," Rodriguez added.

Oil below $50 is uncomfortable for all producing nations, but especially for OPEC members Venezuela and Iran which depend on high prices to fund their ambitious domestic programs. [ID:nLG686557]

Chavez has accumulated foreign reserves and organized loans from nations such as China to shield his socialist government from a protracted fall in income. But economists say he may have to slash spending if the oil price remains low deep into next year.