"Never again will they rob us — the Exxon Mobil bandits. They are imperial, American bandits, white-collared thieves. They turn governments corrupt, they oust governments. They supported the invasion of Iraq," he said. Thus reported Reuters.  This episode is the third recent defeat for Chavez.  Previously his attempt to become dictator for life was voted down and more recently members of his own party have begun to voice opposition to him.   His problems all stem from the dismal performance of the Venezuelan economy under his mis-management. Chavez’ action …

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  According to the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, oil production in the Orinoco belt is to double in 2012 (File Photo) The domestic oil production figures are increasingly lower than the target set in state-run oil holding Pdvsa’s Oil Sowing Plan MARIANNA PÁRRAGA EL UNIVERSAL The Oil Sowing Plan -the Venezuelan state-owned oil giant Pdvsa’s business plan up to 2012- made no significant progress in 2007. Excluding the completion …

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How long can the country’s economy grow while it’s oil sector declines without having a serious negative impact on the amount of oil available to export?  Here’s the story from Reuters:
Venezuela economy grew 8.4 pct in 2007-central bank
CARACAS, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Venezuela’s economy expanded 8.4 percent in 2007 despite a contraction in the oil sector, the backbone of the South American nation’s economy, the central bank said on Sunday.

The bank said the oil sector had shrunk 5.3 percent in the year, but 9.7 percent growth in non-oil parts of …

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History and analysis of Venezuela’s energy production and use.  Discusses impacts of Chavez takeover of PvDSA and forced withdrawal of western IOC’s Click here.

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OPEC is working with Venezuela to try to reconcile their reported production with independent analyses indicating actual may be significantly lower.  Click here.

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Mexico, Venezuela, Kuwait, Iran, Russia and Indonesia.   click here.

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