Venezuela targets 3.4 mln bpd 2008 oil output

CARACAS, May 2 (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA expects 2008 crude oil production to reach 3.45 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the company's 2008 budget published in the official gazette circulating on Friday.

Market observers say PDVSA's output is below official figures and that Venezuela's total output is around 2.5 million bpd compared with government figures above 3.0 million bpd.

The government dismisses such estimates as politically motivated attacks.

This year's target is around 10 percent higher than 2007 average production of 3.15 million bpd reported in the company's financial results and around 16 percent above the 2007 goal of 2.97 million bpd.

The $56.6 billion budget projects condensates and liquids production of 189,000 bpd, taking Venezuela's total expected output to around 3.64 million bpd.

Nearly all of the OPEC nation's production is now in the hands of PDVSA after President Hugo Chavez's nationalization drive last year that boosted state control over crucial oil projects.

PDVSA doubled its stake in four multi-billion dollar heavy crude upgraders after ordering foreign companies to cede a majority share, pushing oil giants Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) to quit the country.

The number of permanent employees at the state oil giant increased by more than 26 percent over the previous year to 71,652. The figure did not include contractors, which in 2007 were listed at 32,702 for a total payroll that year of 89,450.

Chavez sacked some 20,000 employees in 2003, or about half the company's 40,000 permanent employees, following a massive opposition-led walkout meant to force him from office.

PDVSA since then has borne much of the cost of multi-billion dollar social development programs that have kept Chavez popular. Critics say this has drained the company of necessary oil field investment. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by David Gregorio)