IEA downgrades 2009 global oil demand... again

In its Monthly Oil Report, issued Friday in Paris, the IEA said that "after a flurry of downward adjustments by both public and private forecasters," oil demand for 2009 has been revised down by 1 million barrels per day, to 83.4 million barrels per day.

This is a drop of 2.8 per cent compared to 2008, the IEA said.

Global GDP is now expected to contract by 1.4 per cent in 2009, with the 30 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) especially hard-hit.

Click here to access this article in its entirety from Rigzone -- Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Oil and Gas in focus: PDVSA Q1 profit rises 80% to usd $3.5 billion

PDVSA 1st quarter net profit shot up 80%, to usd $3.5 billion, up from usd $ 1.92 billion in the same quarter of 2007.

Although PDVSA's actual real performance might be difficult to predict due to various news agencies and the respective bias they carry when reporting on anything Venezuelan, PDVSA hard figures suggest some hope that Chavez is re-building Venezuela's delapidated and crumbling oil sector.

I am not down on the ground in Venezuela, but from the different Venezuelan-American's i've met, most claim any news they hear from their family and friends in Venezuela is highly bais depending on the individuals political ideology (pro-Chavez or anti-Chavez).

With this in mind I will include te major figures released by PDVSA today, and reported by Business News Americas (BNAmericas). To access the full article from BNAmericas click here.

-- Net profit: rose 80% ---> usd $3.5 billion from 1.92 bilion in 1Q07
-- Total revenue: rose 52% ---> usd $31.4 billion from 20.7 billion in 1Q07
-- Ebitda: rose 85% ---> usd $ 33.3 billion from 19.7 billion in 1Q07

-- Total costs: rose 38% to usd $24.3 billion from 17.6 billion in 1Q07

-- Revenues dedicated to social spending: up a whopping 376% to usd $2.68 billion from $565 million in 1Q07
-- PDVSA total contribtion to Venezuelan state: rose 112% to usd $7.39 billion from 3.48 billion in 1Q07

-- PDVSA oil production: rose 2% to 3.21 mb/d compared with 3.11 mb/d in 1Q07
-- PDVSA natural gas production: fell by 5% to 6.41Bf3/ d (181mm3/ d) compared with 6.73Bf3/ d in 1Q07

***NOTE *** the International Energy Association estimates Venezuela's production is actually close to 2.5 mb/d. Chavez did fire large numbers of workers in the oil sector whom he felt where not supporting his "Boliviaran Revolution." He also soon came to see them as a potential threat, lush with power and money from working in the oil sector, international connections, etc. He fired them all when he took a tough position during the country wide protests which paralyzed the country for about a year. When it was over, 1000's of PDVSA and other workers from the oil the sector found their traditional economic and political power was not able to dictate terms in Venezuela, and as they continued to push they found themselves jobless. 100's of Venezuelan's left to Texas, Miami, the Middle East in search of work in the oil sector abroad.

-- PSVSA recieved an average of usd $87.89/ barrel for exported crude, up 81% from $48.65/ barrel in 1Q07

-- PDVSA exploraton activities: focused on 23 exploration projects with the principle objective of investigation and confirming new reserves.