.....no wonder he doesn't care about gold ; the more he waste ,the more nature provide.

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom discovered “a big accumulation” of natural gas off of Venezuela’s northwest coast, marking what may be the second major find in the area in two months, the country’s oil and energy minister said.

Gazprom was “authorized under their license to drill another well and this has confirmed a big accumulation of gas,” Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters today in the Venezuelan city of Porlamar. Gazprom is Russia’s largest energy producer.

Venezuela, which has the biggest gas reserves in South America, is seeking to boost output of the fuel to overcome a domestic supply deficit, bolster chemicals production and reduce consumption of exportable fuels such as diesel.

The country is waiting for results from drilling by Inpex Corp. and additional tests to decide how to develop the gas reserves, Ramirez said. The priority will be domestic use, including chemicals and power plants, though output from the fields may also be exported through an existing pipeline that crosses into Colombia, he said.

Madrid-based Repsol YPF SA said in September it discovered as much as 8 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Cardon IV offshore field. Gazprom’s drilling has “similar prospects” as Repsol, Ramirez said.

Gas Reserves

Venezuela had 176 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves at the end of last year, according to a statement yesterday in the Official Gazette, the formal record of government actions.

Venezuela would be “cautious” of attempts to boost oil- output quotas by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at a December meeting, Ramirez said, reiterating a statement he made last week.

“The same level of production and compliance with OPEC cuts should be maintained until the market has stabilized and there are better signals of how demand will behave on a global scale,” Ramirez said.

Crude oil for December delivery climbed $1.44, or 1.8 percent, to $79.57 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have risen 78 percent this year.

Bidding on the Mariscal Sucre gas field off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast will finish this year, Ramirez said. State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA has been developing the field on its own and recently leased a second drill ship to accelerate work to produce 600 million cubic feet a day for the local market, plus gas to feed a liquefied natural gas plant, Ramirez said.

Venezuela invited bidders including Marubeni Corp., Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi Corp., Itochu Corp., Sonatrach, Korea Gas Investments Co., Petroliam Nasional Berhad, StatoilHydro ASA, Galp Energia SGPS SA, Gazprom and Eni SpA, according to a June 30 statement from PDVSA.

Ramirez also said today that Venezuela plans to explore for light oil near the mouth of Lake Maracaibo.