"Desperate" Venezuela Calls For Freeze Talks Despite Critics Dismissing Them As An Empty Gesture Or Not Needed

President Nicolas Maduro says he is rallying support to organize a meeting with the OPEC

With chaos, violence, and lack of basic services characterizing daily life in Venezuela, its government is more desperate than ever to see higher oil prices in order to fortify its export revenues – and to that end, President Nicolas Maduro says he is rallying support to organize a meeting with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Speaking on state television this week, Maduro revealed he is in talks with several other oil exporters: "I spoke today with King Salman of Saudi Arabia; in the coming hours, I will speak to the Emir of Qatar; I sent a communique to President Vladimir Putin of Russia; I'm going to speak too with President Rouhani from Iran; I'm in touch with President Correa of Ecuador [and] members of OPEC and non-OPEC countries."

Maduro added that he is pushing to "stabilize" the oil price at $40 per barrel, presumably by means of negotiating a new pricing mechanism; however, in other public statements he has suggested that OPEC should try to return prices to $70 per barrel.

A day earlier, Eulogio del Pino, oil minister for Venezuela, stated his hope that such a meeting will take place "in the coming weeks" so that the participants "can sit down to see what the scenario for the winter looks like."

Greg Priddy, director of global energy with Eurasia Group, said the Venezuelan leader "came across as very desperate."

Indeed, although news of another freeze discussion by OPEC members in September is barely a week old, critics have already gathered en masse to ridicule the initiative, either stating it will never lead to an agreement (as has proven to be the case with talks earlier this year); or that it merely amounts to empty public relations by a cartel that has lost considerable influence in the world market.

Following Maduro's televised address, ANZ Bank stated, "Another round of proposed production freeze talks by OPEC failed to excite investors"; meanwhile, Russia this week said while it is was open to negotiations, it does not see any ground for new talks on freezing output.

Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy for RBC Capital Markets, astutely provided the big picture to CNBC by pointing out, "If you're in Venezuela, you're basically in a bus driven by Saudi Arabia, so they're doing everything they can to get the powerful gulf producers to basically hold an emergency meeting."

As for the chance of an agreement happening, Croft, said, "All eyes will be on Saudi Arabia," and she conceded that the Saudis neither want high prices for U.S. producers nor rival Iran.

Venezuela's desperate stance is in stark contrast to just two months ago, when Maduro promised that his country will boost oil production to satisfy OPEC quotas and del Pino said "We are not tied to any dogma of reducing production."