Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a frequent (and loud) critic of the United States. Despite his dislike for the country, the nationalized oil business that props up the nation’s economy sells billions of dollars of oil to the U.S. Due to Chavez’s bombastic personality, many big oil companies don’t bother drilling in Venezuela anymore. But now that gas prices have plunged, Chavez is gently cozying up to companies like Chevron and Shell to see if they’d like to return to Venezuela. For more on this turn of events, we are joined by Simon Romero who is covering this story for the New York Times from Caracas, Venezuela.