Special to WorldTribune.com

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has held talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro focused on stabilizing world oil prices and strengthening OPEC.

“We continue to build common ground and a new consensus on stabilizing oil markets, strengthening industries, strengthening OPEC,” Maduro said on state television after talks with Zarif on Aug. 27.

Maduro said Venezuela’s oil minister and foreign minister would make announcements in the coming weeks about ways to accomplish its goals. No further details were provided.

Zarif flew to Venezuela on a tour of South America and the Caribbean that has already taken him to Cuba, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

Oil prices fell sharply in 2014, causing major damage to energy-dependent economies like Venezuela and Iran.

Those two countries have pushed for OPEC to limit its daily production in an effort to increase world prices.

But powerful OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia have rejected calls for cutting oil output.

  Iran’s Zarif holds oil talks In Venezuela