Italy's Eni to invest $4bn in Venezuela

Eni, the Italian oil and gas group, plans to invest $4bn in Venezuela, making the biggest commitment by a western oil company since President Hugo Chávez began to take control of the country's oil projects in 2005. Eni has reached agreement in principle with PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, to develop an area of the Orinoco belt - on some measures the world's largest oil reserve. The investment would expose Eni to the risk of further expropriation by Mr Chávez, while giving it access to Venezuela's huge reserves ahead of its European and US competitors.