www.gulf-daily-news.com VIENNA:

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi said yesterday that Opec (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) would make sure there were no oil shortages worldwide, amid a strike in Venezuela and the threat of military action in Iraq.

"I can tell you I support making sure the market is well-balanced. There will be no shortage of supply in the market when the market is well-balanced," he told reporters upon arriving in Vienna for a meeting today of the Opec.

He refused to give figures for what is expected to be an increase in oil production in order to bring down prices in a market pressured by a six-week-old strike in Venezuela and the threat of a US-led war against Iraq.

"You will get the figures tomorrow (Sunday)," he said about the extraordinary meeting at its headquarters in Vienna where Opec is expected to increase its official output quota by between one and two million barrels per day (bpd) to help make up the shortfall caused by the general strike in Venezuela, a major supplier to the US.

Venezuela accounts for around 13 per cent of US oil imports. The strike there has caused US oil stocks to fall at a time when Washington needs them to increase as it prepares for a possible war on Iraq.

If the US launches a war in Iraq before the Venezuelan strike ends, markets could be deprived of about five million barrels of crude oil per day, or even more if the war were to destabilise other Middle East producers.

But the size of the increase remains hard to predict, both due to the Venezuela factor and the even greater potential for market destablisation that a possible US-led war in Iraq presents.

"With oil stocks in the US already close to estimated minimum operating levels, Opec has been forced to act," said Washington's Petroleum Finace Company in a weekend briefing to clients.

"The combination of the twin disruption scenarios represents a political nightmare of sorts for Opec, which will be accused of having failed its mission if prices climb above $35 a barrel."

Oil prices in the US recently spiked above $33 for the first time in two years and Washington is worried that sluggish economic growth could be snuffed out by a jump in energy costs.

Opec ministers have to decide exactly how much more crude to pump to contain prices within their preferred $22-$28 target range.

www.ohio.com Posted on Sat, Jan. 11, 2003 BY PATRICK MARKEY Reuters

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, already fighting to restart an oil sector crippled by an opposition strike, on Saturday threatened to take over banks which joined the six-week shutdown.

In two national broadcasts on Saturday, leftist Chavez lashed out at foes he branded "terrorists" and hardened a stance that seemed certain to further inflame the political conflict over his rule in world's No. 5 oil exporter.

"They will not defeat us on any battlefield," said Chavez, his face flushed as he lambasted foes in a speech peppered with revolutionary rhetoric and threats.

The opposition strike, started on Dec. 2, has stoked tensions between Chavez and opponents, who are demanding that he resign and call immediate elections. Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April, has rejected their demands for an early vote.

Striking oil workers have joined bankers, some teachers and many private businesses in the shutdown that has caused fuel shortages, food supply disruptions and long lines outside banks which are open only limited hours. Bank worker unions earlier this week went on full strike, but just for 48 hours.

Chavez, who has already sent troops to take over oil installations, warned that the government could fire or even jail striking teachers and take over banks joining the strike. He said he could withhold funding against closed universities.

"They say they want to shut the banks, well, we'll apply the law ... and if they resist we will remove their directors or we will intervene," the president bellowed.

Chavez, elected in 1998 on a populist platform of social reform, portrays himself as a champion of the poor abandoned by corrupt elites. Most Venezuelans still live in poverty in spite of their nation's huge oil wealth.

But his opposition say Chavez, rather than live up to his election promises to ease poverty, has driven Venezuela toward economic and political chaos through mismanagement corruption and dictatorial rule.

SEEKING INTERNATIONAL BACKING

Opposition leaders, an alliance of political parties, unions and business groups, on Saturday sought to shore up international support for their campaign. They welcomed U.S. backing for a proposal that would involve other nations in efforts to break the tense stalemate.

International concern sharpened after the strike helped push oil prices to two-year highs of over $30 a barrel at a time when the United States is preparing for a possible attack on Iraq. Venezuela usually supplies more than 13 percent of U.S. oil imports.

Opposition negotiator Timoteo Zambrano and union boss Carlos Ortega, a bitter Chavez foe, planned to travel to the United States on Saturday for meetings with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the State Department.

"This is to explain the Venezuelan conflict, to intensify our international actions, and to make sure there is more attention to the Venezuelan problem from the international community," Zambrano told Reuters by telephone from Caracas airport before leaving.

The United States said on Friday it supports forming a group of key regional nations who could nudge both sides to an electoral solution to end their bitter impasse. U.S. officials said they hoped to bolster talks brokered by the Organization of American States that have so far failed to reach an accord.

Chavez said he had also spoken with the U.N. chief to explain he was fighting against "coup mongers and fascists."

ELECTION DEADLOCK

The opposition wants Chavez to accept elections within the next three months and agree to a nonbinding referendum on his rule in February. But the combative president refuses and has challenged the poll in the supreme court. He says the constitution only allows a binding referendum in August.

"If we want to go to the vote, it's because we want to fight the poverty and misery that this regime forces us to live with," said anti-Chavez business leader Carlos Fernandez.

Fernandez urged opposition sympathizers to take to the streets on Sunday for a march in Caracas near the capital's military headquarters. Two people were killed and dozens wounded by gunfire in a similar march earlier this month during clashes involving rival protesters, police and troops.

The strike has now become a war over the oil industry, which provides for about half of the government's revenues.

Crude and product exports have fallen to less than a fifth of the 2.7 million barrels per day sold before the shutdown and production has dropped to about 450,000 bpd from 3.1 million bpd in November, officials said.

Chavez has fired more than 2,000 workers at state oil firm PDVSA and started to restructuring the company to try and break the strike. But strike leaders say returning operations to normal would take months.

www.voanews.com VOA News 12 Jan 2003, 01:25 UTC

Venezuela's embattled President Hugo Chavez has again issued a stern warning to his opponents, vowing to break a six-week general strike that has crippled the nation's economy.

Speaking Saturday at a rally of thousands of cheering supporters at a Caracas sports arena, Mr. Chavez said his revolutionary government will not give in to opposition demands for him to resign.

Accusing strike organizers of closing many of the nation's schools, Mr. Chavez said teachers who do not show up for work will be fired.

The latest warnings came as the opposition called for an anti-government march Sunday to a military complex where a similar march January third ended in clashes with Chavez supporters. That skirmish left two people dead and more than a dozen injured.

Friday, the president threatened to deploy government troops to seize privately-owned production plants idled by the protest.

Mr. Chavez already has ordered the military to take control of Venezuela's oil production facilities shut down by the strike and announced the firing of a thousand dissident oil workers.

Fuel pumps have gone dry at many service stations around the country. During the past week, bank workers and supermarket employees completed a two-day walkout in support of striking petroleum workers and managers.

President Chavez's opponents began the general strike December second to force him to resign and call early elections. He refuses to step down, saying the labor action amounts to a coup attempt.

The opposition says government policies are to blame for the shortages. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a key U.S. supplier. The political crisis has paralyzed the petroleum industry, which accounts for about 80 percent of Venezuela's export revenue, and has helped push up world oil prices.

www.abc.net.au Posted: Sun, 12 Jan 2003 11:37 AEDT

Blaming sabotage for gasoline shortages in Caracas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Saturday ordered elite troops to patrol oil pipelines and distribution centers.

"Yesterday a group of subversives sabotaged three valves," he said, claiming the incident had occurred at the Carenero distribution center that supplies most of the gasoline used in the capital.

"Supplies had to be suspended," the former paratrooper said.

He said he ordered military commanders to "send rangers to patrol distribution centers and pipelines."

He said the elite troops "were trained to defeat subversion."

For the first time in over a week, gasoline shortages have been evident, as Caracas motorists lined up for hours to get a tankful of fuel.

A six-week-old strike aimed at forcing Chavez from office has targeted the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) oil company, severely affecting exploitation, refining and exports.

Chavez again said striking PDVSA workers had been fired from the company, doubling the figure he first mentioned on Friday.

"I made a mistake, we're not talking about 1,000 but 2,000 who have been fired," he said.

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www.abc.net.au Posted: Sun, 12 Jan 2003 9:15 AEDT

General strike leaders from Venezuela are flying to New York to meet with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in a fresh bid to win international support and break the country's 41-day dispute.

Officially, they are going to explain the reasons behind their strike that has crippled oil production and put the nation on the road to civil war.

But it can be seen as a vote of no confidence in the peace talks being led by the Organisation of American States.

This body represents western hemisphere countries.

There are widespread claims President Hugo Chavez is not committed to the talks.

The Bush Administration has indicated it wants to take a more active role in breaking the strike, which cut oil exports to the US and helped send crude oil prices to a two-year high.