Venezuela’s state oil company wants to increase crude production by nearly 8 percent this year.
Petroleos de Venezuela SA says it hopes to produce more than 3.4 million barrels per day.
State oil company vice president Luis Vierma says the company is investing some $15 million this year — up 50 percent from 2007.
Vierma says that Venezuela [...]

The ratings of CITGO Petroleum Corporation (CITGO) are not expected to change due to the announcement that Lyondell Chemical Company (Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BB-’ on Rating Watch Evolving) and CITGO have discontinued the auction process for the LYONDELL-CITGO Refining L.P. (LCR) refinery in Houston, Texas. Although bids exceeded $5.0 billion, these offers did [...]