Venezuela's state-run oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) was planning to invest 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to exploit 25 mature oil fields in 2006, said PDVSA on Tuesday.

"Our company is planning to spend about 800 million dollars in investments and 600 million dollars in spending for this year," Eulogio Del Pino, a PDVSA official, said at a press conference.

The PDVSA will exploit these fields with its oil allies including Chevron Corp. and Petrobras.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez, who is also the head of the PDVSA, said on Monday that Venezuela supported the idea of cutting oil production at the next meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is to be held on Thursday in Caracas.

Ramirez added that the cut would help tackle the large international oil inventories which had artificially affected oil prices.

Source: Xinhua