Venezuela Oil Reserves Rose 23% In 2009

Venezuela said its 2009 oil reserves rose by 23% to over 211 billion barrels thanks to the addition of more than 39 billion barrels of new reserves, the bulk of which came from the country's Orinoco region.

Companies such as Spain's Repsol (NYSE: REP), Italy's Eni (NYSE: E) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX), the second-largest U.S. oil company, are helping Venezuela develop the Orinoco area.

Venezuela is an OPEC member. The U.S. Geological Survey said in January Orinoco holds about 513 billion barrels of recoverable crude, calling Orinoco the largest oil accumulation it had evaluated, the Oil & Gas Journal reported.