With oil prices hovering above $55 a barrel, petroleum-rich Venezuela is awash with money. The windfall allows President Hugo Chavez to fund numerous social programs for the country's poor as well as gain influence throughout Latin America and the Caribbean by selling oil at concessionary prices. But the oil spigot may be running dry. Simon Marks reports from Lake Maracaibo, the center of Venezuela's oil patch.

Oil prices edged higher Friday after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed not to change its output targets, as expected.

With oil pricey but less so than last year, OPEC ministers will likely opt for the status quo at their meeting Thursday and keep output levels steady ahead of the summer driving season a period of traditional high demand.

Oil prices were nearly flat in Asian trading Friday as market participants looked for trading cues from U.S. jobs data due later in the day.

Oil prices rose above US$53 a barrel Monday amid reports that OPEC may hold an emergency meeting to try to reverse the 13 percent plunge in oil prices this year.

Platts The 10 OPEC members bound by the group's output agreements produced an average 27 million barrels per day (b/d) in December, down 70,000 b/d from November, but some 700,000 b/d above its current output target, a Platts survey showed Friday.