Article

2007-04-13 Caribbean-Latin America

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that soldiers will accompany government officials when they take over oil projects in the Orinoco River basin next month. Chavez has decreed that Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, will take a minimum 60 percent stake in four heavy-oil projects in the Orinoco River region and invited the six private companies operating there to stay on as minority partners.

Or lose everything

"On May 1 we are going to take control of the oil fields," Chavez said. "I'm sure no transnational company is going to draw a shotgun, but we will go with the armed forces and the people."

The projects - run by BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA - upgrade heavy, tar-like crude into more marketable oils and are considered Venezuela's most promising. As older fields elsewhere go into decline, development of the Orinoco is seen as key to Venezuela's future production. Negotiations over the takeover have yet to yield an agreement and are expected to be difficult as the companies seek a deal that takes into account more than $17 billion in investments and loans related to the projects.

Chavez has been given special powers by congress for 18 months to issue laws by decree in energy and other areas, which he has also used to nationalize the country's biggest telecommunications company and electricity company. Chavez has justified the nationalizations as necessary to give the government control of sectors strategic to Venezuela's interests.

Posted by Steve 2007-04-13 07:59|| || Front Page|| [11134 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 ..I just wish we had the balls to drop a few companies of the 82nd Airborne on the Exxon fields and tell Hugo, "Ya know what? We think this needs to go through the US courts. Could take years..."

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-04-13 09:37|| 2007-04-13 09:37|| Front Page Top

#2 Venezuelan oil production continues to drop. Chavez needs the revenue and is going to get it by cutting the the majors out.

However, like the recent bond offerings, it's a temporary fix. Without massive capital spending oil production will continue to decline. Price controls and takeovers of other private companies are driving the non-oil economy into the ground as well.

An increasingly ugly situation.

Posted by DoDo 2007-04-13 12:10|| 2007-04-13 12:10|| Front Page Top

#3 If the majors burn the instruction books and pull the labels off the switches, how are Chavez's goons going to run the place?

Posted by trailing wife 2007-04-13 12:15|| 2007-04-13 12:15|| Front Page Top

#4 Agree with TF and DD. The only oil producing country worse off than Venezuela is Mexico.

Posted by anymouse">anymouse 2007-04-13 12:39|| 2007-04-13 12:39|| Front Page Top

#5 The courts?
No, no, no.
The UN, and that will take 10 times as long.

Posted by Solomon Snusorong9348 2007-04-13 14:14|| 2007-04-13 14:14|| Front Page Top

#6 I like #3 tw's idea, with the caveat that the oil companies get all their people out of the country first. Also might want to think of a way the last guy out (via helicopter, standing by) can damage the equipment in a way that Chavez would find difficult to fix, but the oil companies could fix fairly easily if/when they got their property back.

Once everyone's out, the companies should publicly tell Chavez via joint press conference that if he's going to steal most of their investment, he might as well steal it all. And tell him good luck and drop dead.

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2007-04-13 20:47|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html] 2007-04-13 20:47|| Front Page Top

#7 The oil companies are getting most of their foreign nationals out already. And some of the subcontractors have pulled their equipment and trucked it over into Brazil, and evac'd their technical staff, leaving only skeletal ops crews in place who are training locals before they themselves leave. You just don't hear about it because the papers here dont want to report on negatives int he wonderful workers paradise down there - and Hugo doesn't want it getting out the people are bailing on his thug-led kelptocracy.

Jimmy Carter you asshole, see what you got us?

Posted by OldSpook 2007-04-13 21:24|| 2007-04-13 21:24|| Front Page Top

#8 FREEREPUBLIC/LUCIANNE > CHAVEZ TO ARMY OFFICERS: ACCEPT SOCIALISM OR LEAVE. D *** ng, that sounds familiar in Amerika = America, the USSA/USR = USA, but where??? Now I remember - 9-11-2001, NYC + attack on WTC + collapse + 3000 dead > AMER MUST ACCEPT ANTI-US OWG + ANTI-US SWO-CWO, OR BE DESTROYED!

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-04-13 23:44|| 2007-04-13 23:44|| Front Page Top

14:34 Frank G
14:28 Melancholic
14:27 NoMoreBS
14:14 swksvolFF
14:12 swksvolFF
13:54 mossomo
13:51 mossomo
13:50 NoMoreBS
13:50 Abu Uluque
13:44 Abu Uluque
13:41 NoMoreBS
13:39 Abu Uluque
13:36 mossomo
13:36 swksvolFF
13:32 mossomo
13:26 Frank G
13:12 Regular joe
13:12 mossomo
13:11 swksvolFF
13:08 Abu Uluque
13:00 swksvolFF
12:59 Regular joe
12:55 Skidmark
12:53 Skidmark