4 January 2006 - Main Titles

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Chile Weighs Gas Alliance with Venezuela

Prensa Latina, Cuba - 12 hours ago... From Venezuela´s viewpoint, an agreement with Chile would contribute to developing the integration projects being fostered by President Hugo Chávez, and strengthening bilateral relations , which have gone through difficult moments in recent...

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BAFCC46CD-AE2C-449C-8700-DEF03B575B7A%7D)&language=EN

Venezuela, Bolivia to Discuss Oil Issues

CARACAS, Venezuela Jan 3, 2006 — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the nationalization of Bolivia's oil and natural gas resources would be a topic when he meets Tuesday with visiting Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales.

"Hydrocarbons and their nationalization we're going to talk about that," Chavez told reporters at Caracas' international airport, where a red carpet and full military honors greeted Morales.
Morales, who takes office Jan. 22, made nationalization a part of his successful presidential campaign.

He is being closely watched on how he manages Bolivia's vast natural gas resources the second-largest in South America after Venezuela. He has assured private companies operating there that he will respect their Bolivian assets but has also said the country's vast reserves have been "looted" and that current production contracts must be renegotiated.

France's Total SA and the Spanish-Argentine Repsol YPF SA are among the foreign oil companies with big investments in Bolivia.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1465848


January 1, 2006

Venezuela's Private Oil Fields Back Under Government Control

By Armando Duke

(AXcess News) Caracas, Venezuela - Sunday, Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez said that the government "has successfully completed the recovery of the 32 oil fields whose control was ceded to private hands in the 1990s under concessions allowing companies to independently pump oil under contract."

Operating agreements the private oil companies and the Venevuelan government had to operate the oil fields expired December 31st when the companies failed to convert them into joint ventures with the State owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). The joint ventures were to give majority control to PDVSA. As a result of the agreements not converting, Venezuela took back the fields.

The 32 operating agreements were signed between 1990 and 1997 during the opening of Venezuela's petroleum industry to private and foreign capital. At the time those agreements were entered into the price of oil was below $10 a barrel and the fields themselves were low-flow, meaning the rate of oil that could be pumped per day wasn't worth the PDVSA investing its resources to put them into production.

With the rise in oil prices President Hugo Chavez wanted more revenue out of Venezuela's oil production, so in 2001, he passed a new law requiring all oil field production to be majority controled by Venezuela.

Venezuela had threatened to reclaim oil fields from companies that refused to sign the so-called transitional joint-venture agreements, which will later be converted into permanent agreements with PDVSA.

Ramirez has said the amount the private companies have invested in the fields will determine the amount of control they have. In some cases, Zenezuela could see up to 90 percent ownership, which many oil companies have resisted for as long as possible.
BP PLC, Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and Petrobras SA were among those that signed earlier.

The 32 oil fields have been responsible for about 500,000 of Venezuela's official declared production of 3.2 million barrels a day.

Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and has the largest proven reserves outside of the Mideast.

http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=7423