Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said last month that oil prices, which have dropped by half in the last few months, will probably keep falling as the US falls into recession.
The socialist president said Venezuela would not collapse because of the drop in oil income: "The price of oil is falling? Yes. The price will carry on falling? Probably. But Venezuela will not drown." Oil accounts for about half of government revenue. World oil prices are at a 13-month low, dropping below $70 a barrel from a record of about $150 a barrel in July. Venezuela’s 2009 budget is based on oil selling at $55 to $60 a barrel.