allafrica.com February 19, 2003 Posted to the web February 20, 2003 Augustine Beecher Freetown

The Management of the three major oil importing companies in the country, National Petroleum Company, Safecom and Mobil Sierra Leone Ltd. have decided to make price increases on their petroleum products with immediate effect.

The increases, which were announced during a press briefing yesterday, 17th February 2003 at the NP House in Freetown by the managers of the three oil importing companies in the country, were made in recognition of the changes that have taken place in the oil market since increase were last efected locally in October last year.

According to Mr. Vincent Kanu, Managing Director of the National Petroleum Company, the shortage experienced by the nation in the past weeks has been a result of negative development on the world oil market, prominent among which are the United States proposed war with Iraq (between the biggest oil consumer in the world and one of the biggest oil producers), the three-month long strike by oil workers in Venezuela, and the ongoing political crisis in the Ivory Coast.

These factors have not only led to a shortage of oil products on the local and world iol markets, the NP Managing Director said, but has also forced the prices of these products upwards.

With regards to the local market, Mr. Kanu disclosed that since December when the prices began to go up on the world market, two major local oil companies NP and Mobil have incurred over Le2 (two billion leones) due to their refusal to increase prices on the local market.

They have however been forced to increase prices this time, not because of their insensitivity to the plight of the people, which is always paramount, but because they can not continue to take the losses associated with the uncertainties of the oil industry.

The three local oil companies have hence decided, without any interference from the government, to increase the prices of basic petroleum products with immediate effect.

In this regard, Petrol now cost Le6, 050 (six thousand and fifty leones); Diesel, Le 6, 000 (six thousand leones); Kerosene, Le4, 750 (four thousand seven hundred and fifty leones) and Fueloil at Le3, 305 (three thousand three hundred and five leones).

The oil officials explained that to arrive at the current prices, both the local exchange rate and the international market price for oil were considered, along with the state of the current world events and the impact of the increases on the general populace.

The companies also consulted and collaborated with the Petroleum Unit, which is supposed to monitor the local oil industry operations, in their decision to make the price increases.

In a public announcement, the companies assured the public of the industry's commitment to rendering reliable and effective service at all times, and apologized for the temporary disruption in the supply of petrol to the public.

The officials present at the briefing were Mr. Vicent Kanu of the National Petroleum Company, Mr. Quincy Hegan, General Manager of Mobil Sierra Leone Limited, Mr. A.B. Ndoeka, Managing Director of Safecon, and Mr.

Tunde Cole of National Petroleum.

houston.bizjournals.com 11:50 AM CST Thursday 

ConocoPhillips on Thursday said it had proved reserves of 7.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2002, 600 million barrels of oil equivalent below 2001 pro forma figures.

The Houston-based company said its reserves would also continue to rise in the years to come as it looks to add to its reserves during 2003 from overseas ventures including Kazakhstan, Venezuela and its Ekofisk program in Norway.

ConocoPhillips, which has field developments in Alaska, Canada, China and Indonesia, also has substantial known (natural) gas resources awaiting commercialization including the Brass (liquefied natural gas) project in Nigeria, development of the Sunrise field in the Timor Sea, and Arctic gas from Alaska's North Slope.

ConocoPhillips could also see increased reserves in 2003 if Australia ratifies the Timor Sea Treaty, which would open up the Bayu-Undan gas export project in East Timor, according to the release.

www.voanews.com VOA News 20 Feb 2003, 17:37 UTC

Venezuela's secret police have seized a business leader who helped organize a lengthy anti-government strike, prompting the opposition to call for renewed protests.

Eight men stormed a restaurant in eastern Caracas Wednesday night and took the head of the Fedecamaras business group, Carlos Fernandez, into custody. The gunmen fired shots into the air to keep protesters back as they took Mr. Fernandez away from a restaurant in the Las Mercedes commercial district.

Mr. Fernandez's wife says her husband is being detained at the secret police headquarters and is meeting with his lawyers.

Judge Maikel Jose Moreno ordered the arrest of Mr. Fernandez and union leader Carlos Ortega on various charges including organizing the strike, treason, and civil rebellion. Officials have not yet taken Mr. Ortega into custody.

The Associated Press reports hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Caracas and other cities to protest the arrest.

The incident happened one day after government and opposition negotiators signed a deal to end the country's political violence. Opposition groups in all but the country's oil sector ended their two-month long strike on February third.

bbsnews.net

BBSNews - 2003-02-20 -- From Washington D.C., February 19, 2003 -- The government of Hugo Chávez should carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the abduction and murder of four opposition supporters whose bodies were found on February 16 and 17, Human Rights Watch said today.

"The circumstances strongly suggest that these were political killings," said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. "The government must launch a prompt and impartial investigation into this vicious crime, and must guarantee the safety of the reported witness to the killings."

Darwin Arguello, an army soldier, Angel Salas, a navy corporal, and Félix Pinto, an airman, were reportedly abducted together in Caracas during the night of February 15. The following day, police discovered Pinto's body and that of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Zaida Perozo López, close to a highway in the state of Miranda, some forty kilometers east of Caracas.

The bodies of Arguello and Salas were discovered nearby a day later. All four had been bound, gagged with tape and shot repeatedly.

A fourteen-year-old girl, whose name has not been revealed, is believed to have witnessed at least one of the killings and to have been shot and left for dead. She is recovering in a hospital.

Arguello, Salas and Pinto had joined a protest by dissident military officers against the Chávez government and had participated in opposition gatherings in the Plaza Altamira, a square where anti-Chávez activists have been camped for more than three months. Zaida Perozo is also reported to have frequented the square.

A witness to the abductions said that he had seen the victims being forced by men wearing ski-masks into two vehicles a short distance away from the Plaza Altamira.

The political situation in Venezuela remains tense in the wake of a two-month general strike called by the opposition Coordinadora Democrática, the business group Fedecámeras, and the country's largest union federation. President Chavez has rejected opposition demands for a constitutional reform to permit early elections, and has threatened tough measures against the strikers and against private television networks that supported the strike.

At least seven people have been killed and scores injured in street protests since December 2002, but there have been no confirmed reports of extrajudicial executions of opposition or government supporters.

For more information on Human Rights Watch's work on Venezuela, please see: www.hrw.org

news.bbc.co.uk

Nigeria is the world's seventh biggest oil exporter

Nigerian oil workers have called off a six day strike after talks with the government.

But oil workers in Venezuela are planning fresh protests following the arrest of a strike leader.

Nigeria's oil strike has not affected exports as replacement staff have been used to load supplies.

But the government feared a long-running strike would damage the country's economy.

Oil exports account for more than 80% of Nigerian government revenue and more than 90% of foreign exchange earnings.

Venezuela

Nigeria's Department of Petroleum Resources said it had thrashed out a deal in Lagos with member of the senior staff union, Pengassan.

Pengassan staff walked out on Saturday in support of demands including greater autonomy, higher pay, and payment of allowances arrears, some dating back to 2000.

The union's national secretary-general Kenneth Narebor said: "We have finished and worked on a communique which has been signed and we have agreed to suspend the action."

Meanwhile, Venezualan oil workers said they planned to picket the offices and installations of state oil firm PDVSA.

The workers - 12,000 of whom were sacked by the country's president Hugo Chavez - were not planning to occupy oil installations, they said.

But the protests are expected to take on an added momentum after the arrest of business chief and opposition leader Carlos Fernandez.

Heavily-armed police grabbed him and bundled him into a car, at a restaurant in Caracas.

Venezuela was brought to its knees by a two month long strike, aimed at ousting President Chavez.