Socialism - Hugo Chavez

President Hugo Chavez said Friday that his government is nationalizing 60 oil contractors as he moves to assert greater control over Venezuela's oil industry.

He said companies to be nationalized under a new law will include SIMCO consortium, which has worked injecting water into oil fields in western Lake Maracaibo for the past 10 years. State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, is taking over all oil service work in the lake, where private companies have long helped extract crude, he said.