Mideast Crisis and Higher Oil Prices Could Pour Profit into Venezuela's Economy

Libya turmoil continued this week as Col. Moammar Gadhafi's troops tried to chase rebel forces out of cities housing key oil facilities. The pro-government regime wants to regain cities with oil operations, many of which rebels took over in the first days of fighting. Attacks Wednesday also destroyed one oil facility's diesel oil storage tank and pipeline. Shukri Ghanem, Libya's de facto oil minister and the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corp., said no major oil installations were damaged in the explosion, but the fighting has disrupted a number of oil and natural gas facilities around the country. Libya's oil exports have fallen to 500 million barrels a day from 1.6 billion since the country's conflict erupted, according to Ghanem. Libya hopes to resume fulfilling its oil contracts as soon as the political crisis subsides.