Petroleos de Venezuela to Name New Production Chief, People Say

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state energy company, plans to name Eulogio Del Pino as chief of exploration and production in an effort to improve oil output, people familiar with the situation said. Del Pino, 52, will replace Luis Vierma, said four people with knowledge of the company's operations. They declined to be identified because they're not authorized to speak for PDVSA, as the company is known. The departure of Vierma, 55, may be President Hugo Chavez's response to PDVSA's failure to meet production targets, analysts said. The company last month delayed and cut its production goal. Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said June 20 that the company aims to pump 4.8 million barrels a day by 2013, a reduction from its plan to produce 5.8 million barrels a day by 2012, El Nacional reported. ``Chavez isn't particularly happy with the way PDVSA has been run and the energy sector's very poor performance, particularly after the central bank released a report showing the oil sector contracting for three years running,'' said Patrick Esteruelas, a Latin America risk analyst with Eurasia Group, a political-risk consulting company, in New York.