Venezuela wants an emergency OPEC meeting

Venezuela is seeking an emergency OPEC meeting to figure out how the cartel can stem the collapse in oil prices, The Wall Street Journal is reporting. 

According to people familiar with the matter, the Journal reports that Venezuela has contacted other members of OPEC — the 12-state oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia — to hold an emergency meeting "in coordination with Russia."

Russia is not a member of OPEC — the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — but like OPEC's members, Moscow is heavily dependent on oil revenues to meet its governmental budget needs. 

Venezuela, for its part, has not been handling the collapse in oil prices well: It is teetering on the edge of hyperinflation, with at least one economist calculating the nation's inflation rate at more than 770%. Venezuela's last official inflation print showed prices rose 68% year-over-year in December 2014. (by Myles Udland, Business Insider)

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