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Chavez signs decree to nationalize
all foreign oil companies in Venezuela
ABN/Jesus Castro
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during his Alo, President media show, at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, February 26, 2007.
By Elio Ohep
Petroleumworld
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 02 27 06
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez signed a decree Monday night for Venezuela's oil company PDVSA to take a 60 per cent stake of all the foreign oil companies in venezuela. The heavy oil strategic associations projects in the Orinoco belt area and the profit & risk sharing associations projects on May 1, will have a controlling interest by PDVSA, nationalizing the facto all the foreign oil companies.Chavez announced the decree on its weekly "Alo, Presidente" TV and Radio show. The four projects process 600,000 barrels per day of extra heavy oil into medium synthetic oil in the country's eastern Orinoco Faja basin and the risk & profits sharing projects in Venezuela.
The companies affected by the decree are Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ENI, Total, British Petroleum and Statoil.
The PDVSA's new controlling joint ventures will be run by 'transition committees' until May 1, when Venezuelan teams will take over, Chavez said, adding that the foreign firms would remain minority partners in the JV.
'The privatization of oil is over,' Chavez said. 'This is the last space that was left for us to recuperate. Petroleum now belongs to all Venezuelans.' Chavez added.
Chavez was given special fast track powers by congress in January to issue laws by decree for 18 months to be able to make changes to government institutions, local elections, finance and taxes, banking, national defense, and the energy field.
- Elio Ohep, editor@petroleumworld.com, 58 412 996 3730, Caracas.PETROLEUMWORLD 02 27 07
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