Chavez looks to West for help with oil production

CARACAS, VENEZUELA — President Hugo Chavez, buffeted by falling oil prices that threaten to unravel his efforts to establish a socialist-inspired state, is courting Western oil companies once again. Until recently, Chavez had pushed foreign oil companies here into a corner by nationalizing their oil fields, raiding their offices with tax authorities and imposing a series of royalties increases. But faced with the plunge in prices and a decline in domestic production, senior officials here have begun soliciting bids from some of the largest Western oil companies in recent weeks — including Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and Total — promising them access to some of the world’s largest petroleum reserves, according to energy executives and industry consultants here. Their