(FILE) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad make a clenched-fist salute during a travel to the Orinoco River basin in southeastern Venezuela to witness the opening of a new oil well, 18 September 2006. US oil giants ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil Corp. are pulling out of western Venezuela’s oil-rich Orinoco River basin, Venezuela’s Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez announced 26 June, 2007. «ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are ending their participation in the exploration ventures,» he said at a ceremony during which four other oil companies signed accords under which Venezuela takes a majority stake in heavy crude upgrading projects along the Orinico River. Chavez will meet Ahmadinejad next week in Tehran during an official visit in order to strengthen the economical links between both OPEC countries members. AFP PHOTO/Juan BARRETO
I (Photo credit should read JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)
