Venezuela can pump 2 mln bpd oil by end Jan.-Chavez

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.19.03, 2:28 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, fighting a 7-week-old opposition strike, said the OPEC member country could restore oil output to 2 million barrels per day by the end of January.

The government estimates current output near 1 million bpd, while striking workers peg it at 650,000 bpd.

"We could reach 2 million barrels per day before the end of the month," Chavez said in his weekly television program.