Slash Oil Production to Stablize Prices, Says Ecuador's Correa

Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa proposed to the fourth Summit of South American-Arab Countries on Tuesday a radical new plan to stabilize oil prices, as the two-day conference concluded in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday.

The South American leader suggested to the 22 Arab and 12 South American nations that if the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries reduces crude production to just 1.6 percent of of the global demand, the prices could recuperate significantly.

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Correa urged ASPA to promote mechanisms for higher cooperation, business and investment for the wellbeing of people, through stabilizing oil prices.

Correa’s proposal came after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with whom Correa was expected to present the plan to raise oil prices, made a series of announcements over what had been achieved in the summit.

Correa and his Venezuelan colleague, Nicolas Maduro, held bilateral meetings with other members of the OPEC aimed at discussing the possibility of increasing the price of oil. Both South American leaders met separately with the Saudi Arabian leader, king Salman Bin Abdelaziz to touch on the subject.

Maduro proposed the creation of a “formula” that would enable to stabilize the price of oil at a fair level. He then expressed hope that progress can be made in the short term.

President Maduro also weighed in with the blueprint of a development bank, which the Venezuelan leader said would contribute to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals to fight against inequality and poverty.

After two days of meetings, the two regions approved the so-called Riyadh Declaration, which was created to promote political, economic, commercial, technological and environmental cooperation.

The president also said that participants in the ASPA meeting agreed on the importance of forming a permanent secretariat for the regional cooperation initiative, which will build on the common efforts to build future summits to discuss cooperation efforts.

In Wednesday's speech, Maduro also said that the Latin American countries present at the summit will continue to push for peace in the Middle East region. This would include contributing to negotiations in countries in conflict such as Syria and Libya.

“We condemn terrorism in all its forms,” said the Venezuelan president.

A further announcement was that Venezuela would host the next ASPA summit in 2018.