Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said today he would nationalise "absolutely all" of the energy sector, broadening the range of state takeovers at the heart of his socialist revolution.
The announcement comes five days after president Chavez announced he will nationalise his nation's telecommunications and electricity industries and take over four major oil production facilities controlled by foreign oil companies.
The moves would accelerate the pace of Mr Chavez's pledged socialist transformation of Venezuela, the eighth largest exporter of crude oil worldwide and the fourth largest foreign supplier to the US.
"We are in an existential moment of Venezuelan life," he said in a televised address on Monday. "We're heading toward socialism and nothing and no one can prevent it."
The announcements took many by surprise and immediately led to speculation about how soon the nationalisations would take place and whether the government would reimburse owners for their stakes.