www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.24.03, 4:16 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Venezuela's 130,000 barrel-per-day El Palito oil refinery has been successfully restarted by workers breaking a seven-week-long strike, striking workers said on Friday.

After several failed attempts to restore it, one of El Palito's crude units is running at 100,000 bpd, but auxiliary units including key gasoline producers, are still shut.

"One of the crude units is running, but it will take them a lot longer to restore full operation, because the other units are more complex," an opposition spokesman said.

In a daily report on the oil industry, the opposition estimated that the government had restored 275,000 bpd of local oil refining capacity, versus a total 1.3 million bpd available.

Government attempts to restart El Palito hit a snag two weeks ago when a fault caused an explosion sending a plume of black smoke into the air.

The Amuay-Cardon refinery is running one 50,000 bpd crude unit, while the Puerto la Cruz refinery is running at 75,000 bpd, the opposition said.

The Venezuelan-operated refinery in Curacao said it started up last weekend at a rate of 32,000 bpd, but an attempted start of the catalytic cracker failed and will take weeks to repair.

Venezuelan gasoline production, which is key to government efforts to break the strike and ease fuel shortages, is still well below the country's 250,000 bpd demand level.

seattletimes.nwsource.com By ERIK T. BURNS Dow Jones Newswires

OPEC Secretary-General Alvaro Silva said Friday he is worried about the current high level of oil prices, but said there is no shortage in supplies."We believe that the problem is not the supply. The market is well-supplied," Silva said, while attending the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. "OPEC is worried about the level of prices," he added."At present, the problem is the threat of the war (with Iraq), the nervousness in the market, and the situation of Venezuela," Silva said, referring to the seven-week strike that has crippled Venezuela's oil industry and reduced exports to a trickle.

But Venezuelan output is increasing, he said. The country is currently producing around 1.2 million barrels a day, and expects to increase that to 2 million by the end of February. Venezuela's capacity is around 2.7 million to 2.8 million barrels a day."The current situation (in Venezuela) is a transitory situation," Silva said.

He added that a "war premium" in the crude oil price based on fears of disruption to Iraqi oil exports, in the event of a war, was more difficult to address. "That is out of our control," Silva said.

Silva also said OPEC is concerned about the possibility of oversupply in the market going into the second quarter, following its Jan. 12 decision to raise its output ceiling by 1.5 million barrels a day, effective Feb. 1.

Oversupply in the second quarter, when warmer weather traditionally leads to lower demand, "could cause a violent drop of the price," Silva said.

Asked about non-OPEC producers, Silva said cooperation with them is getting better. "They share with us the concept of the stabilization of the market," he said.

www.iol.co.za January 24 2003 at 10:53PM By Matthew Lee

The United States is advising US expatriates around the world to be prepared for emergency evacuations from their country of residence in the event of unforeseen circumstances, including war, the State Department said on Friday.

The department said it had sent cables to all US diplomatic missions abroad, instructing them to alert Americans in their jurisdictions to be ready for any eventuality amid increasing signs that military action in Iraq is looming.

Officials said the advice covers other eventualities, including natural disasters, personal emergencies and terrorism, but would not rule out a link between the cable and the situation with Iraq.

'I didn't say it was totally routine'"The department is asking all US embassies and consulates worldwide to send a warden message to local American communities with advice on preparedness for an emergency," said Susan Pittman, speaking for the department.

Warden messages are notices US embassies send to American communities in their jurisdictions that generally discuss terrorist threats, common crimes, natural disasters and other difficult situations they may encounter.

A senior department official said earlier that the cable had not been sent specifically in anticipation of a conflict with Iraq but pointedly would not deny that that possibility was behind the timing of the instruction.

"We thought it was appropriate to remind people to take ordinary and routine precautions," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "It mentions all the possible, various unforeseen events in the world."

The official said such instructions had been sent in the past but refused to describe Friday's cable as "totally routine."

"I didn't say it was totally routine," the official said. "I said we are doing this and we have done it before; it's just that we thought it was appropriate to remind people to take precautions."

Pittman, reading from the cable, said the embassies had been told to give US citizens "general steps" to follow to be prepared "for an emergency, whether it is a personal emergency or is the result of political or economic unrest, natural disaster or terrorist attack."

The cable provides a sample message for the embassies to impart, including advising people to store prescription drugs at hand, to ensure that passports and other documents are valid and to maintain adequate food supplies, she said.

"American citizens should always be prepared to depart a country quickly if necessary," Pittman said.

The cable notes that US citizens had in the past year been forced to hastily leave countries such as the Central African Republic, Indonesia, Israel, Ivory Coast and Venezuela, she said.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, January 24, 2003 - 3:22:47 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Chacao Mayor Leopoldo Lopez accuses the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of decreeing the death of justice in Venezuela on throwing out the opposition consultative referendum.

• Primero Justicia (PJ) Lopez insists on holding a “symbolic” signing campaign on February 2, the date the opposition and the National Electoral College (CNE) had set for the referendum.

“On February 2, we will collect signatures for a constitutional amendment, a constituent national assembly, recall referendums for seven pro-government Assemblymen and a letter to the Organization of American States (OAS) signed by all Venezuelans.”

Radical Socialist Causa R leader Andres Velasquez says the consultative referendum planned for February 2 will go ahead despite its suspension by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). “We are going to do it as a protest."

Velasquez was present at the opposition march in Bolivar State and stated that the signature protest would take place all over Venezuela in community halls and tents … “we’ll turn it into a live and direct national survey to show the whole world that Chavez Frias has no legitimacy.”

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, January 24, 2003 - 3:10:00 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) director, Pablo Castro says a constitutional amendment is the way forward towards securing a peaceful, democratic and electoral solution to Venezuela's political, economic and social crisis.

Analysts say they cannot be certain if Castro’s declaration marks a distance from CTV president Carlos Ortega and general secretary Manuel Cova but they say the declaration coincides with a general realization among opposition groups that President Chavez Frias will not cave in to opposition pressure to hold early elections or be forced to a consultative referendum.

Castro insists that any agreement to go for a constitutional amendment must be the result of government-opposition negotiations because he maintains that it will be binding on Chavez Frias and difficult for him to duck out of.

“It will help us avoid the kind of ambushes that Chavez Frias laid to stall the consultative referendum … It’s up to the National Assembly to speed up the passing of the amendment … the country cannot wait any longer.”

Castro points out that such an agreement is the only basis for lifting the national stoppage.