Venezuela pumping 1.2 mbpd oil, rising fast-Chavez

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.19.03, 2:37 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, battling a 7-week-old opposition strike, said Sunday that oil output had recovered to almost 1.2 million barrels per day, versus a top capacity of 3.2 million.

He said flows were rising fast in the east of the country, where current flows of 500,000 bpd would reach 1.3 million bpd by the first half of February.

In the west, he pegged output at 600,000 bpd, with 80,000 barrels per day from the southern fields.

Striking employees of the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela, who aim to force Chavez to resign by cutting off his economic lifeline, estimated output at 649,000 bpd on Sunday.