Efforts to nationalize Venezuela's oil and gas sector have increased government revenue by $5.8 billion a year since 2004, according to President Hugo Chavez. In a national address last week, Chavez said, "You can't have a socialist economist model - without including oil," a reference to his recent efforts to wrest greater state control of the country's petroleum sector.
On May 1, Venezuela's state-run energy company Petroleos de Venezuela SA assumed majority control of the Orinoco River oil reserve, a move that added an additional $800 million to state coffers, Chavez said.
... PDVSA's independence could take even longer considering Venezuela's oil output is believed to have slipped by more than 250,000 bpd from a year ago, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. Production has reportedly decreased from 2.6 million bpd to 2.37 million bpd.
From Energy Daily
