to all, hugo's "costs" are a matter of interpretation..his whole program has involved a "take everything out of the pot, put nothing back in" mentality..

as no bear stated the production is depleting daily because of no re-investment in the industry...

soo, hugo now screams for "production cuts" because ven's production is going down wether he wants it to or not.....

all i know is the original ven budget was planned at $80oil, then $60....well, it's hovering under $40....since oil makes up (what? 90%) of the ven income, the easy answer is that ven will make no more than 1/2 of what it needs...they are in the deep hurt locker!

imo, in the end the oil fields will be sitting idle like everything else in ven...hugo will get tossed out...the multi-nationals will move back in and re-invest in the industry.....after a few years Hugo II will pop up..... it's the south american way..

what ven really needs is a dictator that leaves a little something on the table for everyone else....