The net income of state-owned energy giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA skyrocketed 225% between January and September of 2008 to a record $12.1 billion, according to a report released Friday. During the first nine months of last year, the Venezuelan oil industry took in net revenues of $115.4 billion, 68 percent higher than the same period of the previous year, PDVSA's Operational and Financial Report said.
The average price of the basket of crude oil and refined products sold by OPEC member Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, rose to an average of $103 per barrel during the January-September period, according to official figures. But global oil prices have continued to plunge since reaching record highs over the summer, and Venezuela's heavy, high-sulfur crude is now selling for much less than the $60 per barrel price used by President Hugo Chavez's government in drafting the 2009 budget.
The report indicated that during the period in question PDVSA's debt fell 7.38 percent and totaled $14.8 billion on Sept. 30, 2008. The document added that PDVSA paid $6.2 billion in income tax between January and September and another $8.8 billion in windfall taxes.
While PDVSA says it produced an average of 3.3 million barrels of crude per day during the period, figures compiled by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries indicate the Andean nation's output was roughly 2.4 million bpd.
PDVSA serves as the financial engine of the socialist Chavez's so-called Bolivarian Revolution and the company's profits are paid into the Fund for National Development, or Funden, which finances social programs and infrastructure projects. Oil revenues account for roughly 90 percent of the country's export earnings and fund roughly half the national government's budget.
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