Now THAT'S funny.. the only thing Venezuela is capable of developing on its own is deceit, strife, ineffiency, confusion, crime, fear and loathing, and oh, almost forgot... poverty.

I Agree 100% Newf. My guess is they are trying to send a signal to the bidders for the upcoming as yet unawarded oil contracts that PDVSA will develop these fields on their own if the bidders don't lower their financial sites. If the terms of the oil contracts that are presently being bid on are anything like the gas contracts that got NO BIDDERS....they may find that no one is interested in bidding on developing Venezuela's oil fields either. THAT would be uproariously funny and would surely get mainstream attention by the political opposition. It certainly could not hurt our case if Hugo was getting increasing flack in the mainstream press about his role in destroying investment in Venezuela as election time approaches. These boneheads just don't get it. No one will invest if they can't make money.