http://allafrica.com/stories/200501180914.htmlVenezuela has stepped up a campaign to strike deals with foreign state-run oil companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), following disagreements with private oil majors that have operated in the country for years.
Last week a 15-person delegation from the Iranian oil ministry is in the country, looking for opportunities in the natural gas and petrochemicals industry.
Next week a Venezuelan delegation will travel to Qatar for more talks on natural gas. An NNPC delegation may also visit the country seeking to strike a deal on behalf of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the crude oil exploration unit of the NNPC.
According to Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, years of talks with other state-managed oil firms, in particular from other Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will bear fruit shortly. snip
Chavez envisions a "multi-polar" world free of U.S. political, economic and military dominance. Late last year he traveled to Iran, Russia, Qatar, Libya and China to expand energy relations.
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