In 1999, President Hugo Chavez took office under the banner of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, pledging political and economic reforms to give the poor a greater share of the country's oil wealth. The country's oil reserves total almost 297 billion barrels representing 20% of the world's oil reserves. A constituent assembly was formed to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution in July 1999 giving powers to Chavez for his vision of a "socialist Venezuela." The president's economic reforms took the form of a socialist project characterised by the nationalisation of key sectors of the economy, especially energy, mineral resources and the banking sector.