claims, which have again surfaced as Iran has begun drilling in the Dorra offshore gas field. (DJ) July 27: Italy's ENI signs a deal with Iran worth $3.8 billion for the development of the country's South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf. The project will take five years to become operational, and will eventually produce of gas per day. (DJ) July 30: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez wins reelection with 60% of the popular vote. His Patriotic Pole party also wins a controlling majority in the country's new unicameral legislature. (DJ) August 10: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez meets with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad as part of a tour of OPEC member states. Chavez is the first head of state to visit Saddam Hussein since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. (NYT, WP) August 23: The Energy Information Administration reports that crude oil stock levels in the United States have fallen to their lowest level since 1976. Crude oil for October delivery closes at $32.02 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), up 80 cents. (DJ) August 30: The Department of Energy awards contracts to create a two-million-barrel reserve of heating oil. The oil will be stored in privately owned facilities in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and New Haven, Connecticut. (DJ) September 8: Truck drivers in Britain begin a blockade of oil refineries to protest high fuel prices. The blockade follows a similar protest in France. (DJ) September 10: At a meeting in Vienna, OPEC agrees to raise production quotas by (to , not counting Iraq) in an attempt to push crude oil prices back under $28 per barrel. The quota increases become effective October 1. (DJ) September 20: Oil prices close at $37.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), after trading as high as $37.80 during the day's trading session. The price spike comes amid an increase in tensions between Iraq and Kuwait. This level sets a new ten-year high for NYMEX crude oil. (DJ) September 22: U.S. President Bill Clinton authorizes the release of of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over 30 days to bolster oil supplies, particularly heating oil in the Northeast. The release will take the form of a "swap," in which crude oil volumes drawn from the SPR will be replaced by the recipients at a later date. Crude oil for November delivery falls four percent, to $32.68, on the New York