newsobserver.com Friday, February 28, 2003 12:00AM EST The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Venezuela's energy minister gave an optimistic forecast Thursday for resumption of oil shipments to the United States, saying the country was expected to increase production to 2.4 million barrels within a few weeks. Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's minister in charge of energy and mines, told a conference that oil production, at a virtual standstill in January, recovered dramatically in February.

Ramirez briefed Energy Department officials and said they were "pleasantly surprised by our recovery."

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told a Senate hearing Wednesday that while the crisis in Venezuela appeared to be ending, it could take 60 to 90 days before oil imports from the South American country would get back to normal.

Energy Department spokeswoman Jeanne Lopatto declined to characterize the meeting. "We appreciated their sharing the information with us," she said.

Ramirez estimated that Venezuela was exporting about 1.5 million barrels a day, about half its average daily export last year. He also said gasoline exports from Venezuelan refineries were likely to resume in mid-March.

The Venezuelan government's past assessments on the recovery of the country's oil industry have been disputed by critics, who have said they are overly optimistic.

Political turmoil and strikes beginning in December paralyzed the industry and brought Venezuela's oil exports to a halt.

The shutoff of Venezuelan supplies -- along with nervousness about a possible war with Iraq -- have caused crude oil prices, as well as the cost of gasoline and heating oil, to soar.

The world's fifth-largest oil producer, Venezuela is a major source of oil for the United States, accounting for about 14 percent of U.S. oil imports last year, or about 1.3 million barrels of crude and refined gasoline.

During a meeting Thursday at Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington group specializing in Western Hemisphere affairs, Ramirez said oil shipments in the eastern part of Venezuela have nearly gotten back to normal in recent weeks. He said ExxonMobil and Valero Energy are inspecting shipping facilities in anticipation of resuming shipments into the United States.

Ramirez said his government expects oil production to reach the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' quota soon.

He said production has risen from 150,000 barrels a day in early January to just over 2 million barrels a day. He said production is expected to reach 2.9 million barrels a day by the end of March.

www.miami.com Posted on Fri, Feb. 28, 2003 H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Venezuela's oil production has been rebounding, but it's still too early to tell when American refineries will once again be able to rely on the South American country as they have in the past.

Venezuela's energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, gave an optimistic forecast during a visit Thursday, predicting that his country would be producing 2.4 million barrels of crude a day by the end of the month, about what the country's production quota is under guidelines laid down by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

But Bush administration officials did not eagerly embrace the upbeat assessment.

On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told a Senate hearing it might be two to three months before Venezuelan imports get back to normal.

"We appreciated their sharing the information with us," Energy Department spokeswoman Jeanne Lopatto said Thursday when asked for comment on Ramirez' forecast.

The loss of Venezuelan oil in December because of the country's political strife has been especially worrisome within a Bush administration preparing for possible war with Iraq.

Energy analysts have questioned whether other producing countries with spare production capacity, mainly Saudi Arabia, could replace both lost Venezuelan and Iraqi oil should war erupt in Iraq and Venezuela's problems not be resolved.

The world's fifth largest oil producer, Venezuela is a major source of oil for the United States, accounting for about 14 percent of U.S. oil imports last year, or about 1.4 million barrels of crude and refined gasoline per day.

In recent months U.S. refiners, purchasing through intermediaries, reportedly have been relying more heavily on Iraqi oil to replace the lost supplies from Venezuela. The two countries produce similar types of oil.

U.S. imports of Iraqi oil doubled to more than 1 million barrels a day in mid-February, The Washington Post reported recently, citing unpublished figures from the United Nations. Working through intermediaries, U.S. companies long have bought Iraqi oil under a U.N. food-for-oil program, but those imports dropped to almost nothing last summer when Iraq for a time tacked on an expensive surcharge.

The political turmoil in Venezuela caught U.S. officials by surprise. Energy analysts have blamed the recent jump in the price of crude, as well as heating oil and gasoline, to the loss of Venezuela's oil and jitters over possible war in Iraq.

Crude prices retreated somewhat Thursday after soaring to the highest level since the Gulf War 12 years ago, closing at $36.35 on the New York Mercantile Exchange spot market.

Analysts speculated that the decline_ nearly $1 from Wednesday's close - was more the result of profit taking than a signal of a downward trend. The price for crude to be delivered in April increased to just under $40, the highest since October 1990, shortly before the Gulf War.

The attempt by Ramirez, Venezuela's minister in charge of energy and mines, to reassure U.S. officials of his industry's recovery seemed to have little impact on traders, who have been worried more about Middle East supplies if war erupts in Iraq.

Ramirez said Venezuelan oil production, at a standstill in December and January, recovered significantly in February.

He said production rose from 150,000 barrels a day in early January to just over 2 million barrels a day, with 1.5 million barrels a day being exported. He said production is expected to reach 2.9 million barrels a day by the end of March.

He spoke at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington group specializing in Western Hemisphere affairs, and later to reporters.

www.iol.co.za February 28 2003 at 07:51AM By Phil Stewart

Caracas, Venezuela - If you thought Venezuela's political crisis seemed to be dragging for an impossibly long time - you were right.

In a bizarre mass-malfunction, Venezuela's clocks are ticking too slowly due to a power shortage weakening the electric current nationwide. By the end of each day, the sluggish time pieces still have another 150 seconds to tick before they catch up to midnight.

"Everything that has to do with time-keeping has slowed down. If it's an electric clock, it's running slow," said Miguel Lara, general manager of the national power grid.

'People must be going nuts'"Your computer isn't affected. Your television isn't affected. No other devices, just clocks," he added.

The meltdown has taken a total 14 hours and 36 minutes from Venezuela's clocks over 12 of the past 13 months, he said.

In a country fiercely divided between friends and foes of its leader, President Hugo Chavez, it isn't surprising some opponents have jokingly blamed the clock chaos on the president.

But instead it appears to be Mother Nature that lashed out against Father Time. The river powering a major hydroelectric plant in southeast Venezuela lost force due to a severe drought in February 2001. To prevent blackouts, the country slightly lowered the frequency of the current.

At least one time expert was caught off guard.

'I wake with the sun'"It's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard of," said Dan Nied, head of the American-based School of Horology, or the science of time measurement. "But yes, clocks would slow down."

For common quartz clocks, the slight drop in frequency slows the vibration of the crystal that regulates time keeping, he said, adding, "People must be going nuts."

But in a nation that rarely starts on schedule, Venezuelans have taken their time troubles in their stride. An air traffic controller casually told reporters that his office corrected its clocks every few days or months, without incident so far.

"Yes, it's been happening here. But we correct the clocks every three months and there's no problem," he said.

Many people on the streets of Caracas were only vaguely aware that their clocks had been slowing down.

"I wake with the sun," said Rene Osurna, who works at a shipping company. "And if you're two minutes late to the office, and everybody else is too, there's no problem."

slashdot.org

Posted by chrisd on Friday February 28, @02:08AM from the hz-donut dept. Christopher Frank writes "Seems Venezuela's lack of power has finally caught up with them! MSNBC has the story: 'If you thought Venezuela’s political crisis seemed to be dragging for an impossibly long time — you were right. In a bizarre mass-malfunction, Venezuela’s clocks are ticking too slowly due to a power shortage weakening the electric current nationwide. By the end of each day, the sluggish time pieces still have another 150 seconds to tick before they catch up to midnight.'"

washingtontimes.com By Jeffrey Sparshott THE WASHINGTON TIMES

     Venezuelan energy officials this week sought to reassure the United States and oil markets that crude oil production is returning to normal after a crippling strike that began late last year.      But in meetings this week, the U.S. State Department warned Venezuela that its reliability as a strategic oil partner is in doubt. At the same time, oil prices reached 12-year highs as cold weather and the specter of war with Iraq drove prices near $40 per barrel.      Venezuela last year was the United States' fourth-biggest crude oil supplier, but in December a nationwide strike all but shut down production at Petroleos de Venezuela, the country's state-owned oil monopoly.      The nationwide strike ended Feb. 4, but sporadic demonstrations and violent outbursts have continued.      Political strife and a severe economic slowdown have plagued the country as President Hugo Chavez has held on to power while opponents seek a referendum on ending his rule. Demonstrations yesterday forced a suspension of talks between government and opposition delegates on ending the political turmoil, the Associated Press reported.      "As far as we're concerned, the political impasse is really undermining Venezuela as a reliable energy supplier," said Charles Barclay, spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Officials at the State Department conveyed that message during a meeting Tuesday.      Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's energy and mines minister, and Ali Rodriguez, head of Petroleos de Venezuela, both of whom met with State and Energy department officials, were in town to tell government and business groups that their government has regained control of the energy situation.      "It is within our own hands to supply all of the market demand. We wish to transmit this good news directly to the United States, to clear up all the doubts and conjectures that have naturally risen as part of this situation," Mr. Ramirez said yesterday in a meeting with reporters.      At the beginning of January, Venezuela produced only 150,000 barrels of oil per day. As of yesterday, production reached 2.08 million barrels per day, Mr. Ramirez said.      By the end of March, Venezuela's production should reach 2.9 million barrels per day, he said.      For most of 2002, before the strike, Venezuela produced about 2.9 million barrels of oil per day, with 2.4 million of that exported, the U.S. Energy Information Agency said.      Prior to the strike, Venezuela supplied about 12 percent of the United States' oil imports, making it the fourth-biggest supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.      The political situation in Venezuela has stoked U.S. oil prices this year, along with a particularly cold winter that has increased heating needs, and worries that Middle East oil supplies could be disrupted by a war with Iraq.      "The Venezuela strike ... has been a big part of the run-up in oil prices. The strike cost the world a tremendous amount of oil," said Phil Flynn, an energy analyst with Alaron Trading in Chicago.      Oil prices were $27.24 per barrel Dec. 2, the day the Venezuela strike started.      Yesterday the price spiked to near $40 before settling at $37.20 to end the day.      U.S. consumers have felt the effects of rising oil prices through rising heating oil and gasoline prices.      Even if Venezuela returns to normal production levels, the political situation makes the country an unstable source of oil, Mr. Flynn said.      The Organization of American States, a political forum for governments in the Western Hemisphere, is trying to broker a political settlement that ends the strife in Venezuela, but recent violence, attacks on foreign embassies and an apparent crackdown by Mr. Chavez have delayed meetings.