(Recasts, changes dateline, adds additional OPEC comments)

CUMANA, Venezuela, April 17 (Reuters) - OPEC should create an oil price band of $70 to $90 per barrel if oil prices stabilize, Venezuela's oil minister said on Friday, adding he expected prices to reach $60 per barrel by the end of the year.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in 2005 abandoned a price band system, which seeks to keep oil prices within a set range, that was adopted in 2000.

Such a system could allow OPEC to raise or lower oil production if the target price slipped outside the set range for a specific number of trading days.

"That sort of mechanism is what there needs to be, or an improved band system with clearly established parameters, a formula that gives certainty and stability for both consumers and producers," Rafael Ramirez said.

In conversations with reporters following a summit of allies of leftist President Hugo Chavez, Ramirez also said OPEC would work to take oil prices to $70 per barrel.

He added that Venezuela would not cancel any major oil projects as a result of low oil prices.

Ramirez on Thursday said oil prices were stabilizing with a floor of $45 per barrel, and said OPEC would continue monitoring markets. The group meets again at the end of May to decide whether or not to cut output. (Reporting by Fabian Andres Cambero, writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Marguerita Choy)