Oil basket case

7 June 2012 By Christopher Swann

Venezuela’s strongman is ailing even as his re-election campaign begins. Any successor could make big changes, including running the nation’s oil business better. OPEC rivals gain from the shrinking output Chavez has overseen. They won’t want a new broom who gets crude flowing.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s battle with cancer has kept him off the street during the run-up to Venezuela’s Oct. 7 presidential vote, exacerbating supporters’ fears that the leader’s health is deteriorating. However, his campaign said on June 6 that he would register his candidacy in person on June 11.

Venezuela is the sixth-largest oil producer among the 12 members of OPEC. The nation’s proven oil reserves are the largest in the world at around 296.5 billion barrels, according to OPEC, surpassing those of Saudi Arabia. The country produced 3.2 million barrels a day of oil in 2000, according to the BP statistical review, but output declined to 2.47 million barrels a day in 2010.

Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are set to meet in Vienna on June 14.

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