Venezuela revokes oil firms' independence
October 3, 2005
Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said all foreign oil companies with operating contracts to pump oil in the country must comply with new rules that require them to form joint ventures with the government.
Speaking Sunday during his weekly program on state-run radio and television, Chavez reiterated the government would discontinue previous deals under which oil firms could run oil fields independently under contract.
Oil companies that have 32 operating agreements in Venezuela are expected to convert their deals into joint ventures with state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S
'Those that don't accept it, should pick up their things and go, and hand over all the wells' |
.A., or PDVSA, which is to have a majority share in all of the new arrangements.
Chavez acknowledged that many companies resisted the shift to joint-venture deal, but now "almost all have agreed."
"There is just one European company left," that has not agreed to the new terms so far, Chavez said in his nationwide broadcast.
"Those that don't accept it, should pick up their things and go, and hand over all the (oil) wells."
In August, the government signed new deals with eight oil firms, foreign and Venezuelan, to create joint ventures. The National Assembly is yet to adopt guidelines and determine how much control the firms can retain in the joint ventures with the PDVSA.
The government will hold between 60 percent and 80 percent stakes in the new joint ventures, depending on the companies' investments, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said last week.
Chavez's government also has said foreign oil companies owe the country more than $3 billion in unpaid taxes.
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
Chavez has insisted that his policies are not discouraging investors. A government official who appeared with him during the broadcast, Miriam Aguilera, said that foreign investment in Venezuela from January through August this year totalled $604 million, twice the amount during the same period last year. - Sapa-AP
|
|
