SAN RAFAEL, CA - JULY 27: A sign is posted at a Chevron gas station on July 27, 2012 in San Rafael, California. Chevron reported a 6.8 percent decline in second quarter earnings with profits of $7.21 billion compared to $7.73 billion one year ago. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez signed a $2 billion loan deal Monday with Chevron Corporation.
The loan secures a joint venture between Venezuela's state oil company and Ali Moshiri, Chevron's head in Latin America, in an effort to boost production in an oil field in western Zulia state.
Venezuela's PVDSA oil company owns 60 percent of the joint venture, Petroboscan, while Chevron has a 40 percent stake.
Ramirez says financing will help boost production in the Boscan field from 107,000 barrels a day to 127,000 barrels.
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves but production has been falling the past decade. The government has relied heavily on the country's oil income to fund social programs, and reinvested relatively little of it to exploit new fields and replace depleted ones.
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.
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