BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2007

Chavez Grants Belarus Oil

By Maria Levitov

Bloomberg

MOSCOW - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez granted Belarus the rights to develop oil fields in the South American country, the government of the former Soviet republic said.

The fields will be able to pump up to 2 million tons of oil a year (40,000 barrels a day), the government said in a statement carried by its Belta news service Monday.

Chavez made the announcement during a meeting with Belarus officials in Caracas two days ago, Belta said.

The Venezuelan leader has said that establishing closer relations with countries such as Belarus, China and India will help Venezuela diversify oil sales. Venezuela, the third largest OPEC oil producer in February, according to Bloomberg data, plans to reduce the percentage of oil exports it ships to the United States, Chavez has said.

Source:

http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=21121