South America's desperados

Latin America's two Opec members needed the deal to cut and Venezuela will probably shed even more output than it agreed

Perhaps no Opec member went into the group's November meeting needing a deal as badly as Venezuela. After years of economic mismanagement, only higher crude prices will help to alleviate a cash crunch that has crippled Venezuela's economy and almost pushed its state oil company to the brink of financial ruin (see our longer report on Venezuela). Eulogio del Pino, the head of state company PdV and the country's oil minister at the time, relentlessly toured oil capitals over the past two years, trying to make the most of his country's dwindling influence within Opec to piece together a deal. In the end, Vienna was a victory lap. Venezuela's contribution to the deal will be a 95,000-barrel-day