The gross income of the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) rose 28 percent in 2005 to 83 billion U.S. dollars, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Thursday.

Ramirez, who also heads PDVSA, told reporters that the company's net profit hit 9.4 billion dollars, an increase of 117 percent over last year.

The minister said that in 2005 the company's average output was 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) and would rise to 3.4 million next year.

In 2006, PDVSA is expected to focus projects like the Gran Mariscal Industrial Complex in Ayacucho, whose cornerstone will be laid in January, and on gas production and heavy oil deposits in Venezuela's Orinico strip.

The company's investment will reach 7 billion dollars next year, 40 percent higher than that of this year, and about 70 percent of the money will be used in exploration and production.

Under a plan called "Seeding Petrol," Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil producer, hopes to increase production by more than 1.5 folds to 5.8 million bpd by 2012 and produce 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year.

Source: Xinhua