PDVSA's Oil Revenue Slips 7.6 pct in 2014

Venezuelan oil company PDVSA's revenue from oil and fuel sales dropped by roughly 7.6 percent in 2014 from the previous year, hurt by a fall in crude prices, the state company reported on Saturday.

Revenue from sales declined to around $105.3 billion, according to a company document published in Venezuelan newspaper Ultimas Noticias.

Its total revenue for last year was also down by around 4.4 percent to $128.4 billion.

Economists tend to focus on PDVSA's revenue because of its multibillion-dollar contributions to anti-poverty campaigns, which make profit figures less relevant in assessing performance than they are for private firms.

PDVSA was the world's fifth-biggest oil company in 2013, according to a ranking by Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, which says it uses reserves, production, refinery distillation capacity and sales volumes as criteria.

PDVSA President Eulogio Del Pino told Reuters earlier this month that Venezuela was exporting 2.4-2.5 million barrels per day from a production of roughly 2.85 million.

The OPEC country has the world's largest crude reserves.

Net profit in 2014 was $9.1 billion compared with $15.9 billion the previous year, the company said.

Transfers to social programs in 2014 were $15.7 billion and state development fund Fonden received $10.4 billion.

Financial debt was down to $5.9 billion at the end of 2014 from $7 billion the previous year.

Debts to providers stood at $20.9 billion for the period.

(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; editing by Jane Baird)