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Summary Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez demanded raise in Venezuela's oil production quota from OPEC.
Venezuelas President Hugo Chavez urged the OPEC producer group to raise its quota for Venezuela as it has vast oil reserves in the Orinoco heavy crude belt.Venezuelas quota is around three million barrels per day (bpd), but it aspires to produce far more than that in the coming years through ambitious joint venture projects in the Orinoco.OPEC recently said Venezuela leapfrogged Saudi Arabia to become the worlds No. 1 holder of crude reserves, with more than 296.5 billion barrels, albeit much of that tar-like extra heavy oil. Venezuelas output in 2010 was 2.97 million bpd.Chavez said that if OPEC lifts Venezuelas quota, the country could produce between 8-9 million bpd by 2031.The projects in the Orinoco belt are slated eventually to add 2.1 million bpd of production and to bring in some $80 billion in investment.
