Venezuela expects gas output to hit 11.5 bn cubic feet by 2012

Venezuela expects to double its current gas production to some 11.5 billion cubic feet by 2012, the official ABN news agency reported, citing a high-level executive at state-owned oil giant PDVSA said. Anton Castillo, director of gas processing at PDVSA, told ABN that the Andean nation currently 'produces 6.3 billion cubic feet of gas.''With execution of the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Complex, we will be able to process some 600 million additional cubic feet by mid-2009,' the executive told ABN, adding that output would reach 'some 11.5 billion cubic feet by 2012.'PDVSA wants to increase gas production to 'guarantee domestic supply' and 'joint developments with brother countries,' Castillo said.Venezuela, according to official figures, has 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, giving it the eighth-largest reserves in the world.