RPT-Venezuela PDVSA discloses profits tumbled in Q1 '09

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CARACAS Oct 21 (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA revealed in a rare filing that its profits fell in the first three months of 2009 to half their level a year earlier, as output cuts and tumbling oil prices hit the cash cow for President Hugo Chavez's socialist revolution.

In an unusual filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Venezuela's finance ministry said net profits in the first quarter fell to $1.6 billion, down 54 percent from $3.5 billion in the same period of 2008.

The report cites PDVSA's consolidated financial statements, which had not previously been made public. According to the report, gross income fell 23 percent in the quarter to $13.6 billion.

PDVSA's net profits may have fallen more than gross income because of payments the company makes to government social programs. The company has not reported financial results for any period after March, 2009.

The steep decline in oil prices last fall and winter created a cashflow crisis at the end of 2008 that saw PDVSA fall behind in payments to service providers by billions of dollars.

Venezuelan crude fetched an average of $40.14 per barrel in the first quarter, down from $85.19 per barrel in the same period of 2009.

World oil prices fell to $33 per barrel in December but have rebounded this year, reaching a high of above $80 this week. Higher prices and financing have helped PDVSA pay off some of its debt to service companies.

(Reporting by Mariann Parraga; Editing by David Gregorio)