(EFE News Service) - "Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA, has scheduled this year investments of US$10.07 billion in exploration and production projects, almost double the figure for 2006, the Caracas daily El Universal reported.

The paper cited Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez, who is also PDVSA's president, as saying that the increase in investment is included in the 2005-2012 oil plan, which sets forth total expenditures over the period of $56 billion.

Ramírez said that the socialist government of President Hugo Chávez wants Venezuelan oil production this year to finish up at an average of 'nearly 3.1 million barrels per day.' That target represents a drop of roughly 200,000 b/d from 2006.

Venezuela , which is one of the world's top crude exporters and a founding member of OPEC, is currently going through an international process to certify its reserves, which Caracas estimates at 316 billion barrels, enough to make the Andean nation the global leader in petroleum (.)".