abcnews.go.com — By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter tried on Monday to salvage faltering peace talks between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and foes staging a seven-week-old strike to bring down the leftist leader.

Former U.S. president Carter, on his second visit to Caracas in less than a year, planned to hold meetings with Chavez and the opposition, who have been locked in a political standoff since April when the Venezuelan leader survived a short-lived coup.

"There is always hope for a resolution and I hope that will be soon," Carter told reporters as he arrived in Caracas to meet with Organization of American States head Cesar Gaviria, who brokered the peace talks.

Carter, who carries out international peace work through his Atlanta-based Carter Center, has been in Venezuela for about a week on a fishing trip.

Negotiations between Chavez and his foes were thrown into doubt at the weekend after the populist leader threatened to quit the talks even as the international community stepped up support for OAS mediation.

The talks have been stalled over the timing of elections and how to end the opposition strike that has cut oil output and severely disrupted fuel and food supplies in the world's fifth largest petroleum exporter.

Chavez, who was elected in 1998 six years after leading a botched coup, has dismissed his foes as "fascist terrorists" plotting to overthrow him. But his critics, who say Chavez has wielded power like a corrupt, inept dictator, have vowed to keep up the strike until he steps down. Chavez rejects their calls for immediate elections.

The strike deadlock has raised international concern over global oil supplies at a time when energy markets are already jittery over a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. Venezuela usually supplies about one sixth of U.S. oil imports.

Oil prices crept higher Monday after Washington said time was running out for Baghdad to prove its compliance with United Nations disarmament resolutions. Benchmark Brent crude oil prices were up 21 cents at $30.57 a barrel. U.S. crude oil prices closed Friday at a fresh two-year high of $34 a barrel.

OVERSEAS FRIENDS

Oil supply fears have intensified diplomatic efforts to end the Venezuelan crisis. The United States, Brazil and other governments have agreed to form a group of six nations to lend weight to mediation efforts by OAS chief Gaviria.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to send an envoy to Venezuela to take part in the initiative, which also includes Spain, Portugal, Chile and Mexico.

But Chavez cast doubt on the plan by threatening to pull out of OAS talks and insisting that other countries, such as Russia, Cuba and France, also be included.

Hoping to build pressure on Chavez, opposition leaders are planning to hold a nonbinding referendum on his rule on Feb. 2. The Supreme Court has yet to decide on the legality of that poll. Chavez insists a binding referendum can only be held after Aug. 19, halfway through his current term.

The Venezuelan leader said on Sunday he was restarting the strike-bound oil industry, which accounts for about half of the government's revenues. He has fired 2,000 employees from state oil firm PDVSA and ordered troops to take control of production installations and refineries.

"We are winning the oil war," Chavez said.

But rebel oil executives said production was still at about only 650,000 barrels per day -- about half of the government estimates. Venezuela produced about 3 million barrels per day before the strike in November.

The president has also ordered troops to raid factories, banks and schools joining the strike, as well as food and drink manufacturers he accuses of hoarding supplies. National Guard troops sparked opposition outrage and international concern on Friday after they broke into a local bottling affiliate of Cola-Cola Co. to take away crates of drinks.

www.morningjournalnews.com Monday January 20, 2003 By RYAN GILLIS, Journal Staff Writer

1/20/2003SALEM - While the local economy appears to have entered this latest recession earlier and has been in recession longer than national averages, better days may soon be on the horizon, economically speaking.

According to George Zeller, who spoke Friday at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce's annual economic forecast luncheon, there is a 70 percent chance Columbiana County's recessional economy will improve before the end of 2003.

A recession is defined as two consecutive fiscal quarters in which the country's gross domestic product, the sum total of all economic activity nation wide, declines. The national economy saw negative GDP during the first three quarters of 2001.

That decline stopped at the fourth quarter, he said, and all four quarters of 2002 saw positive GDP, meaning the national economic outlook is improving. Unfortunately, that growth is much slower to arrive in Columbiana County and the Mahoning Valley than in the rest of the country, he said.

"I don't think its a secret to most of you that this is not the best economic period we've ever had," Zeller told his audience, and his statistics suggested Columbiana County and surrounding areas have yet to see the end of this low economy.

For example, over the past year, Columbiana County alone has lost over 1,000 jobs, and Mahoning and Trumbull counties have lost an additional 3,000 jobs, meaning the total area has lost almost 4 percent of its employment.

Statistics also show the total aggregate earnings from all jobs in Columbiana County still equal about $200 million each quarter, Zeller said, but that figure is 3 percent less than last year, a loss of about $6 million.

"When there's $6 million less in paychecks circulating in people's pockets, that's a problem," he said. "That's a problem certainly for the household where the paychecks are lost, and it's a problem for the business community, too. There's that much less money circulating."

Locally, the recession has been in place since the third quarter of 2000, according to Zeller's figures, and the entire state was in recession throughout 2002. Job losses are also much larger when viewed over a two-year period, about 7 percent of all jobs in the Youngstown metro area were lost, he said.

Zeller's forecast was not all gloom and doom, however. The number of people applying for unemployment in Columbiana County has been decreasing for the past six weeks, which the economist called "a positive sign."

Based on that fact and national trends, Zeller predicted there was a 70 percent chance the county's recession will end before 2003 is over.

The prediction leaves a 30 percent chance the local economy will not improve this year. Zeller said the possible war with Iraq, political instability in Venezuela and changing interest rates are all "wild cards" in the equation which could keep the economy stagnant.

Zeller is a senior researcher at the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland, which coordinates anti-poverty efforts in Cuyahoga County. He has also worked as a sociology professor at both Ashland and Wittenberg universities and served on several statistical committees and task forces at the national, state and local levels.

He is a 1967 graduate of Salem High School.

rgillis@mojonews.com

allafrica.com Daily Trust (Abuja) OPINION January 20, 2003 Posted to the web January 20, 2003 Salisu Na'inna Dambatta

The general outcry by Nigerians over the state of roads in the country has accentuated the timeliness of the ongoing efforts towards ending the 100-year jinx on the exploitation of the large bitumen deposits in the country which has an enormous economic potential for Nigeria. Bitumen is the major component necessary for the construction of conventional roads in the world.

Although, preliminary exploratory activities on tar sand, the other name for bitumen, started in 1900, 14 clear years before the amalgamation of Nigeria, it is only in the last couple of years that the tempo of federal commitment that could lead to the actual exploitation of the mineral began. The driving force behind this, needless to say, is President Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigeria Competition Bill Your Comments Requested

"Any Nigerian government that successfully lays the foundation for the exploitation of this huge mineral resource would have made history because the Nigerian economy would substantially be diversified from conventional petroleum in an irrevocably strategic way", says a document advocating the exploitation of the mineral.

That foundation has been laid as the actual exploitation of Nigerian bitumen is set to be actualised in the next six months, raising hopes that Nigeria will soon be enjoying the fruits of the 47.2 billion barrels known or confirmed deposit of bitumen. This is important as the benefits are many.

The popular part of bitumen is asphalt which, as stated earlier, is used in road construction, but fact is that it has other petrochemical properties which are more valuable than most people think.

"Other strategic products include synthetic crude oil that can be refined from bitumen to produce motor fuel, fuel oil, grease, wax, pith and low cost petroleum products such as naphtha", says a document prepared by Dr. Femi Dada, former director of the bitumen project. Additional by-products of bitumen are nickel, vanadium, phenols for the pharmaceutical industry, sulphuric acid and sulphur, all of which Nigeria now spends huge amounts of foreign exchange to import.

The importance of bitumen has been recognised by other bitumen-rich countries, especially Venezuela and Canada who have developed techno-logies appropriate to the grades of their bitumen deposits. They are earning foreign exchange from it and its by-products and at the same time using part of it for their domestic needs.

In fact, Dr. Femi Dada argued in his paper that, "the local market alone in Nigeria is estimated at about N20 billion annually", and went further to observe that, "the Nigerian economy loses about N133 billion of five percent of GDP annually as a result of lack of bitumen".

Indeed, given the nature and value of bitumen, it is imperative to appreciate the goodness in the speedy manner in which the federal government created the enabling environment for its exploitation. The benefits it will bring are numerous. The National Assembly should assiduously pass the bill before it on the establishment of the Bitumen Development Agency. The federal ministry of solid minerals development should be praised for the determination shown by its management in ensuring that at last Nigeria's bitumen dream is now almost translated into beneficial reality.

Many Nigerians who are following the progress of the march towards the exploitation of bitumen acknowledge the inauguration of a presidential committee on the implementation of the bitumen project by the government of Ibrahim Babangida in 1989. Its revival by the Obasanjo administration is a welcome exercise in continuity and the increased tempo towards achieving the objective in the last two years is a genuine source of happiness to those who appreciate the implication of it all.

For availability of Nigerian bitumen to feed the huge internal demand for the commodity for road and other construction will mean more tarred roads for Nigerians. There are the added benefits of saving foreign exchange and earning more from its export.

The development of skilled manpower and the acquisition of high-tech equipment will all have beneficial impact on Nigeria. It is desirable and realisable with the current level of commitment on the part of all stakeholders.

It is argued elsewhere that Nigerian bitumen could help Africa realise the unfulfilled dream of the defunct Organisation of African Unity of developing the Trans-African high-way, the system of road networks planned to traverse the continent, lining up West, North, East, Central, Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa together. This will boost African integration, a constitutional objective of Nigeria which is being vigorously pursued by the Obasanjo administration.

Salisu is an assistant director of information at the presidency.

sg.biz.yahoo.com Monday January 20, 10:43 PM

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--The planned restart over the weekend of the 335,000 barrels per day La Isla refinery at Curacao has failed due to technical glitches, a refinery spokeswoman said Monday.

"We have tried to restart several units, but technical problems have forced us to delay plans to bring the plant back on line," the spokeswoman said. She added that due to the technical problems certain parts of the units have to be flown in from abroad. She couldn't say by how long the planned startup has been delayed. The plant was scheduled to be back at full capacity within two weeks.

An attempt to restart a crude distillation unit that didn't suffer from technical problems will be made later Monday, she said.

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AdultsStorage facilities have been drawn down sufficiently enough to restart the processing of around 200,000 b/d of gasoline. The plant was forced to shut down after an oil strike hit production and exports of Venezuela's state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela SA (E.PVZ) and storage facilities were full.

The production and exporting of around 200,000 b/d of gasoline are crucial for the gasoline supply in Venezuela, hit by an oil strike which entered its eighth week Monday. The La Isla refinery is leased by PdVSA.

The Venezuelan government still depends mostly on gasoline imports to fight a gasoline shortage. Only its 200,000 b/d Puerto La Cruz refinery is functioning. It's producing around 75,000 b/d.

By Fred Pals, Dow Jones Newswires; 58212-5641339; fred.palsdowjones.com;

www.abs-cbnnews.com

New players Total and Eastern Petroleum Corp. Monday rolled back the 40-centavo per liter increase implemented on their diesel prices last week after the country’s major oil firms decided to adjust the prices of their gasoline products by 60 centavos per liter.

“To maintain market competitiveness, Total will reduce its prices by 40 centavos per liter for diesel and kerosene effective 2 p.m.,” a company official said Monday.

Eastern Petroleum Corp. president Fer Martinez, meanwhile, said the supposed increase in diesel could still be implemented “depending on the move of its competitors.”

Total raised its gasoline prices by 60 centavos a liter on Friday while Eastern implemented its price adjustment by the same amount on Saturday.

The rollback in diesel and kerosene was announced Monday.

The price reduction came after market leader Petron Corp. increased only its gasoline prices Monday. Pilipinas Shell also implemented the same price adjustment on Satuday. Both firms said the increase was necessary to recover the Clean Air Act (CAA) implementation costs they have incurred.

“The increase reflects additional cost for CAA compliance. There will be no movement on diesel and kerosene,” Petron and Shell said separately.

Monitoring by the Department of Energy showed that uncertainty in Iraq and the ongoing strike of petroleum workers in Venezuela have pushed up market prices both world crude oil and refined petroleum products. L. Lectura

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