asia.reuters.com Sun January 12, 2003 08:09 PM ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - NYMEX crude futures rebounded from early losses in off-hours trade on Monday as traders discounted OPEC's weekend decision to raise output as unlikely to boost supplies in the key U.S. market for the next few weeks.

U.S. light crude for February delivery dropped to an early intraday low at $31.20 a barrel, down 48 cents from Friday's settlement in New York.

But the dip was short-lived and the market rallied into positive territory, striking an intraday peak so far at $31.80. At 7:57 p.m. EST Sunday, February crude stood 10 cents off at $31.58.

Brokers said OPEC's decision on Sunday to raise group production by almost seven percent, or 1.5 million barrels per day, had already been priced into the market.

Of more concern was that supplies would take four to six weeks to hit U.S. shores, where crude inventories have fallen to near 26-year lows due to an opposition-led strike in Venezuela, which supplies 13 percent of U.S. oil imports.

The strike has removed about two million bpd of crude from world supplies.

"Whatever barrels OPEC adds to the market, they are going to be some time -- weeks -- in getting to the United States where physical inventory is key and it's pretty tight," said Paul Ashby, oil and gas analyst at ABN Amro in Sydney.

Venezuelan oil normally takes about five days to reach the United States.

"I certainly see oil staying above $30 until the Venezuelan situation is sorted out," Ashby said.

OPEC's agreement at an emergency meeting in Vienna brings the cartel's official production ceiling for the 10 members bound by quotas to 24.5 million barrels per day.

But the increase was divided pro-rata among members, meaning that Venezuela, OPEC's third biggest producer, was also granted its share of the higher output limit despite the ongoing strike, which entered its 43rd day on Monday.

Traders are also concerned that many others in OPEC have little, or no, spare capacity to bump up production.

NYMEX oil futures also rebounded from early losses. February heating oil gained 0.02 cents to 86.55 cents a gallon, while February unleaded gasoline futures gained 0.36 cents to 87.55 cents a gallon.

The Tokyo Commodities Exchange was closed on Monday for a holiday.

www.zenit.org Piden a los negociadores dar las respuestas que el país espera

CARACAS, 12 enero 2003 (ZENIT.org).- La Conferencia Episcopal de Venezuela (CEV) publicó este viernes un documento en el que alerta que la agudización de la crisis está poniendo seriamente en peligro a la misa República.

El comunicado fue hecho público con motivo de la reunión de representantes del episcopado con el secretario general de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), César Gaviria, y los miembros de la Mesa de Negociación y Acuerdos. El país vivía el cuadragésimo día de huelga.

En el encuentro participaron monseñor Baltazar Porras, arzobispo de Mérida y presidente de la CEV, monseñor Ovidio Pérez Morales, arzobispo de Los Teques, y monseñor Ubaldo Santana, arzobispo de Maracaibo.

Monseñor Porras leyó el documento en el que se afirma que «el prolongado enfrentamiento político ha adquirido muy peligrosos niveles de crispación y violencia verbal, física y moral. Por lo mismo, mientras más se radicalice, como desgraciadamente se prevé, no dejaría vencedores ni vencidos, sino una gran derrotada: Venezuela».

En el documento, los obispos piden a los negociadores que «se consagren, con urgencia, a dar las respuestas que el país aguarda con angustia y esperanza».

Respecto a los objetivos que se trazó la Mesa de Negociación, el episcopado califica de «sabia» la decisión de encontrar una salida electoral, pues «la situación convierte en imperativo que sea el pueblo quien libremente decida su destino».

Asimismo, exigen «encarar» la violencia política, social y política que permanece impune, lo que, a juicio de los obispos, «ha llevado a la pérdida de confianza en la credibilidad de las instituciones judiciales y de los poderes públicos».

También se recuerda que propuesta, apoyada originalmente tanto por el Gobierno como por la oposición, de crear una Comisión de la Verdad que estableciese las responsabilidades y sanciones a los culpables de la violencia política.

La Conferencia Episcopal aprovechó para recordar las palabras que pronunció el papa Juan Pablo II el pasado 1 de enero, cuando señaló que «quienes ocupan puestos de responsabilidad y no acepten cuestionarse con valentía su modo de administrar el poder y de procurar el bienestar de sus pueblos, será difícil imaginar que se pueda progresar verdaderamente hacia la paz».

«Frente a una casa que se incendia no buscamos paliativos sino acuerdos efectivos y rápidos que den solución a este drama», señaló monseñor Pérez Morales, a la salida de la reunión.

El presidente Hugo Chávez advirtió este sábado ante miles de seguidores que no será derrotado en ningún frente de batalla porque le asiste la razón, la moral, la verdad «y, además, Dios está con nosotros. Porque ésta es la lucha de Dios, Cristo está con nosotros». Este tipo de citas religiosas impropias es común en su lenguaje, y en el pasado fue criticado por ello por los obispos.

El paro ha llevado a Venezuela a exportar menos de una quinta parte del crudo que tradicionalmente enviaba al extranjero --que antes de comenzar la acción eran 2,7 millones de barriles diarios (bpd)-- y ha reducido a niveles mínimos la producción petrolera.

www.zenit.org: 2003-01-12

CARACAS, Venezuela, JAN. 12, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Venezuela's escalating crisis is threatening the very stability of the republic, the Catholic bishops' conference warns.

The episcopal conference spelled out its fears in a document published Friday. Church leaders also expressed their concerns at a meeting with the delegates of the Table of Dialogue, a forum for representatives of the government and the opposition under the aegis of Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States.

As a weeks-long opposition strike against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez continued, the bishops relaunched their appeal for the need to intensify negotiations.

Archbishop Baltazar Porras, chairman of the episcopal conference, underlined that the "prolonged political confrontation has reached dangerous levels of friction and verbal, physical and moral violence."

"An eventual ulterior escalation of the confrontation would not leave winners or defeated, but just one great loser: Venezuela," he said.

Tension escalated after Chávez announced that he had ordered his troops to prepare to seize control of the food supplies, according to the French press.

"I will not allow my people to die of hunger because of a strike," Chávez said.

00:05 - 13 January 2003

Fears of a hike in the price of petrol receded tonight after members of the oil producers' group OPEC agreed to raise production levels.

The decision by the cartel to lift its target by 6.5% to 24.5 million barrels a day covers a shortfall in oil exports from crisis-hit Venezuela.

The move, announced after an emergency meeting in Vienna today, is aimed at keeping crude oil in the range of 22 US dollars to 28 US dollars a barrel.

Justin Urquhart Stewart of Seven Investment Management, said the decision was good news for motorists and the UK economy, although he believed it was unlikely to result in an immediate reduction in the price of petrol.

He added: "It could have been very unpleasant if they hadn't done anything. particularly if there's going to be further shortages in the event of war in the Middle East. The fact that they are willing to do something is encouraging."

The price of crude oil in London is currently just below the 30 US dollars a barrel mark but there have been fears it could go as high as 40 US dollars as concern grows about the impact of a possible conflict with Iraq.

BP increased the price of petrol at some of its stations by 1p per litre in the New Year, taking the average across the country to about 74.8p per litre.

OPEC's decision to call today's meeting follows a month-old strike in Venezuela, where opponents are seeking to oust President Hugo Chavez. It has cut the country's exports by about two million barrels a day.

Venezuela is normally OPEC's third largest producer and a major oil supplier to the United States.

OPEC president Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said after today's meeting: "OPEC is trying to send a very strong message that it will do its utmost to stabilise demand and supply."

abcnews.go.com — By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops fired tear gas on Sunday to drive back tens of thousands of anti-government protesters as President Hugo Chavez ordered a crackdown against a six-week-old opposition strike that is bleeding the economy.

As the demonstrators in Caracas fled the clouds of gas, the leftist leader sternly warned opponents he would not let them disrupt schools, banks or food supplies in a strike which has already crippled shipments by the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

"They want to break us economically. They are not going to do it. I swear it by God and my mother," Chavez said during his weekly "Hello President" television and radio show.

Waving national flags, the opposition protesters marched toward Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters in Caracas as part of their determined campaign to try to force the populist president to resign and call early elections.

They found their path blocked by barbed wire barricades, armored vehicles and several hundred National Guard troops and military police, who fired a volley of tear gas canisters.

Several people were carried away, apparently overcome by the choking gas.

During his broadcast, Chavez signed a decree creating a special government commission to combat a tax rebellion announced by opposition leaders. By urging Venezuelans not to pay taxes of any kind, the strikers hope to cut government revenues already drained by the crippling oil strike.

The president, elected in 1998, said the strike was costing the country tens of millions of dollars a day. "We should prepare for difficult times," he said, adding that another government commission was drawing up budget cuts.

He condemned his opponents as "fascists and coup mongers" and described them as desperate. "They don't know what to do next," said Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April. He himself attempted a botched coup bid in 1992.

Chavez, who has already sacked 2,000 striking state oil employees, repeated threats to send troops to take over private factories and warehouses if they hoarded food supplies.

He also threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of private TV stations that criticize his rule, describing their hostile programming as "worse than an atomic bomb."

'DECLARATION OF WAR'

On Saturday, he warned the government would intervene in banks and schools shut by the strike.

"This was a declaration of war. Chavez is not interested in dialogue or reconciliation," glass artist Luz Marina Urrecheaga said on Sunday as she and other protesters harangued troops.

The strike has rocked Venezuela's oil-reliant economy and sent its bolivar currency tumbling. It has also jolted oil markets and the oil exporters' cartel OPEC agreed on Sunday to raise production by 1.5 million barrels per day to stave off a spike in prices threatened by the Venezuelan strike.

The marchers had headed toward Fuerte Tiuna in a repeat of a Jan. 3 protest that broke up in violence, leaving two Chavez supporters dead and dozens of other people injured.

The anti-Chavez demonstrators on Sunday mocked the troops, hanging women's underwear on the barbed wire to insult them. Angry Chavez supporters who turned out to confront the anti-government marchers were kept back by a cordon of troops.

As a result of the strike, Venezuelans have experienced unprecedented shortages of gasoline, cooking gas and some food items. Bank workers staged a 48-hour stoppage last week, but will reopen on Monday under restricted service hours.

Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April, says he is a champion of the poor and that wealthy and corrupt minority elites are trying to topple him. His foes accuse him of dragging Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism.

SUPPORT FROM U.S. REPRESENTATIVES

Chavez on Sunday read out a Jan 9 letter of support sent by 19 U.S. Congress members recognizing him as the legitimately elected president of Venezuela.

"If Abraham Lincoln or George Washington were alive and here today, they would be on our side," he said.

In their letter, the 19 members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- 18 Democrats and one independent -- told Chavez they strongly opposed attempts to remove him from office and condemned Bush administration officials who appeared to support the short-lived coup against him in April.

The authors of the letter included Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

"Should an illegal coup take place again, we believe the world community should condemn such an action and make clear that Venezuela is served best only when governed by legally elected leaders," they said in the letter, made public Jan. 9.

Government and opposition remain deadlocked over the timing of elections and the United States, the biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil, is backing efforts to reach a negotiated deal in talks brokered by the Organization of American States.

The opposition plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule on Feb 2. His current terms ends in early 2007.

He says a binding referendum on his rule cannot be legally held until August. If he loses, "I'll go," he said on Sunday.