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Venezuela's Chavez accuses former oil officials of favoring foreign companies
AP
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 07 30 07
President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused former Venezuelan officials of allowing foreign oil companies "to rob" Venezuela's immense petroleum wealth, saying they should be charged with crimes.Former executives at state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, permitted international companies to blatantly violate contracts by extracting billions of barrels of light, sweet oil without investing in technology required to produce heavy crude, Chavez said.
"The transnational companies did not comply with the agreements," Chavez said on his weekly radio and television program. "They never invested in technology so they wouldn't have to spend money."
Chavez frequently complains of widespread government graft and corruption during a period popularly referred to as the Fourth Republic — the four decades from the fall of Venezuela's last dictator in 1958 through Chavez's first election in 1998.
"Those who signed and approved those agreements during the Fourth Republic, violating the constitution and the laws, should go to trial," said Chavez, urging prosecutors to investigate former officials.
Chavez's government took majority control of Venezuela's last privately run oil projects on May 1, giving foreign oil companies the option of accepting less profitable terms or stop pumping petroleum.
AP 29 07 07
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