Caracas,
Friday
August 20,2010

Venezuela Oil Price Falls to $67.56
According to figures released by the Venezuela Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the average price of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week ending August 20 fell to $67.56 from the previous week's $70.83 average.

CARACAS -- Venezuela's weekly oil basket fell $3.27 this week compared to last week, with oil prices also tumbling in international markets during the week.

According to figures released by the Venezuela Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the average price of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week ending August 20 fell to $67.56 from the previous week's $70.83 average.

According to the Ministry, the average price for the year of Venezuela's mix of heavy and medium crude has fallen a tad to $69.73.

Venezuelan crude prices hit a high for the year of $76.37 in the week ending April 9.

NYMEX oil trading in New York hit a high of $75.77 on Tuesday before falling, while NYMEX oil hit a high for the year of $86.84 on April 6.

The United States is the largest importer of Venezuela’s oil exports.

In 2008, the United States imported 1.19 million bpd of crude oil and petroleum products from Venezuela, down from 1.36 million bpd in 2007.

Historically, Venezuela has been one of the most important suppliers of foreign oil to the United States, but that importance has been diminishing, especially under Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. In 1960, Venezuela’s share of U.S. oil imports stood at 50%, but Venezuela now bounces between being the fourth and fifth largest supplier to the US, supplying only 9% of total US oil imports in 2008.

Oil accounts for more than one-third of Venezuela's gross domestic product, more than half of government revenue and about nine-tenths of the country's exports.