Article: Venezuela seeks investments from Big Oil

Squeezed by slumping crude prices, Venezuela is reaching out to the multinational oil companies it once demonized as imperialist profiteers.

Venezuela is soliciting bids from the world's major oil companies to extract heavy crude from vast deposits in its Orinoco River region. Despite President Hugo Chavez's criticism of U.S.-style capitalism, it has become clear that state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA needs both the cash and expertise of Big Oil.

These international oil companies have made windfall profits in recent years, but analysts doubt many will want to invest again given Chavez's history of seizing foreign stakes in Venezuela's oil.

"When it comes to ...

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