Venezuela boosts oil investment

State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA will spend $15.6 billion on oil-related investments this year, a 56 percent increase over last year, the country’s oil minister said Monday.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the higher investment is aimed at helping PDVSA meet its goal of increasing crude output to 5.8 million barrels a day by 2012.


The government says output is currently more than 3 million barrels a day, though independent analysts estimate the true figure is considerably less.

Apart from oil-related investment, PDVSA also has budgeted $1.2 billion for social programs, Ramirez said.

Business Week