Arab Gulf oil producer Kuwait has poured cold water over a Venezuelan initiative aimed at engineering coordinated action between Opec and non-Opec producers to boost oil prices from the near five year lows global oil markets are currently experiencing.

Alongside fellow price hawks Algeria, Nigeria, and to a lesser extent Iran and Iraq, Venezuela has been leading the calls for action to prop up oil prices in an effort to ease the economic squeeze triggered by the slump in oil prices to below half year-ago levels. Oil exports represent around 95% of the country’s total exports. (CONTINUED - 515 WORDS)