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Venezuela nationalizes foreign oil rigs
PDVSA
Offshore rig in Maracaibo lake
AFP
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 05 15 07The Venezuelan government of firebrand President Hugo Chavez said Monday it was taking control of oil rigs from multinational firms, in the latest of a wave of nationalizations.
Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads the state-owned energy company PDVSA, said the firm had in the past ceded control of 18 offshore drilling platforms to foreign giants.
"These companies demand millions for the use of these machines. Faced with this situation, we have decided to nationalize this equipment," he told the official Venezuelan news agency ABN without elaborating.
Oil services firms present in Venezuela include US giants such as Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger.
At the start of his second six-year term in January, the leftist Chavez decided to nationalize "strategic" interests in sectors such as energy, telecommunications and power generation.
Chavez, whose government is flush with cash from booming oil prices, has been a repeated thorn in the side of the United States, which buys about half of Venezuela's daily crude production of three million barrels.
PDVSA is diversifying its supply of drilling machines used in oil exploration, and Ramirez said the first of a new batch from China would arrive in November.
"The idea is to acquire 13 machines, with one arriving each month," the energy minister said.
"In parallel to this agreement, Venezuela will install an assembly plant for drilling machines and in a second stage, the objective will be to make these machines directly in the country," he said.
AFP 14 1740 GMT 05 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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