Reuters, 04.02.03, 3:25 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 2 (Reuters) - Venezuela's National Assembly finance committee on Wednesday approved terms for up to $1.25 billion in domestic and external public bonds as the government sought to tap fresh capital after a two-month opposition strike drained oil revenues. About half of the total public credit involved of two trillion bolivars would be used to cover external and internal debt payments and the rest would go to cover the state's fiscal requirements for 2003, according to assembly legislators. Leftist President Hugo Chavez, whose government is facing a financial crunch after the December-January strike cut into its vital oil income, last week said that external debt payments would weigh heavily on this year's national budget. Government officials are working on a program to ease payments on the nation's $22.3 billion foreign debt through voluntary swaps, direct bank credits and external financing for specific projects. To manage its $9.04 billion domestic debt, the government has already started a restructuring program through voluntary exchanges to extend maturities. It has completed six swaps from November for about $2.76 billion in its maturing domestic National Public Debt (DPN) bonds. The issue approved on Wednesday carries six options, including DPN notes in the domestic market or Euro bonds, or bonds and global notes in dollars. The government already won approval in January to issue up to another two trillion bolivars under similar terms. The Finance Ministry proposed six different instruments depending on the conditions of the market at the time of issue and risk. Proposed terms included: *Eurobonds in euros with total payment on maturity, offering two options, one at 18 months with a yield of up to 10.7 percent and the another at up to seven to ten years with a yield of up to 12 percent. *In dollars. Bonds or global notes with a total payment on maturity and options of 18 months and 10 years and yields ranging from 14.8 percent and 17.65 percent. *In dollars. Bonds privately placed in the external market with a maturity of three years and a total payment on maturity. Priced at par. *In dollars. No precise instrument but the issue would have a maturity of up to 180 days with a yield of 14.74 percent. *In Yen. Bonds with a total payment on a four-and-a-half year maturity with a six-month Yen Libor rate plus a margin of no more than 525 basis points per year. Priced at par. *In bolivars. National Public Debt bonds through direct placement, swaps operations or the reopening of existing debt. ($1 = 1,600 bolivars)

<a href=new.stockwatch.com>Stockwatch 2003-04-02 15:30 ET - News Release

TULSA, Okla., April 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beta Oil & Gas, Inc. ("Company") announced today, additions to the Company's management staff: Mr. Arthur W. "Bill" Howard as Operations Manager and Mr. Richard L. "Rick" Payne as Reservoir and Acquisitions Manager.

Mr. Howard has over 53 years experience in the oil and gas industry and was employed for the last 24 years with Grace, Shursen, Moore and Associates ("GSM"). Mr. Howard, while serving as manager of consulting engineers, worked on numerous projects involving all phases of drilling, completion operations and reservoir evaluation, both domestically and internationally. Previous to GSM, Mr. Howard was employed by Marathon Oil Company and held various engineering positions and ultimately was responsible for all engineering activities in the western U.S. and Canada. Mr. Howard holds his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa and graduate studies toward a Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana State University. Mr. Howard flew combat missions as a Captain in the United States Air Force in World War II.

Mr. Payne has over 18 years experience in the oil and gas industry including 17 years with ARCO/BP followed by 1 year with Syntroleum Peru Holdings, Ltd (Syntroleum). Mr. Payne served as the General Manager responsible for the start-up operations in Peru for Syntroleum, where he hired and managed the in-country staff to support various LPG and GTL projects that were operated by the company. While at ARCO/BP, Mr. Payne held various engineering and management positions in Alaska, Texas and Venezuela and was ultimately the Exploitation Manager for BP responsible for the Boqueron Field in Eastern Venezuela. Mr. Payne led the subsurface and surface engineering teams supporting the development and operation of the Boqueron field. Mr. Payne holds his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State University respectively and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University.

David Wilkins, President and CEO of Beta Oil & Gas, Inc. commented; "I am very excited to have both Bill and Rick joining our management team at Beta. Their experience and expertise are already working to optimize our current assets and they will play key roles in helping to identify additional exploitation and potential acquisition opportunities for our company in the future."

Beta Oil & Gas, Inc. is an independent energy company engaged in the production, development and exploration of oil and gas properties. For more information, please contact Steve Fischer at (918) 495-1011.

Forward-Looking Statement: This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address estimates of proved oil and gas reserves, future production, exploration drilling, exploitation activities, capital expenditures, gross unrisked reserve potentials, and events or developments that the company expects or believes are forward-looking statements. Although Beta believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include oil and gas prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. The Company has no obligation to update the statements contained in this report or to take action that is described herein or otherwise presently planned.

Beta Oil & Gas, Inc.

CONTACT: Steve Fischer of Beta Oil & Gas, Inc., +1-918-495-1011

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters Wed April 2, 2003 03:28 PM ET (Adds afternoon prices, status on Brazilian vote)

By Susan Schneider

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Brazilian bonds sauntered higher on Wednesday on expectations Congress would approve a bill laying the groundwork for Central Bank autonomy, a vote viewed as a trial run for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's wish list of economic reforms.

Brazil's share of J.P. Morgan's Emerging Market Bond Index Plus, about one-fifth of the total index, added 1.51 percent on the day as the benchmark C bond BRAZILC=RR gained 0.75 points to 82.125 bid. Brazil helped push the broader index 0.43 percent higher for the session.

Brazilian bonds built on their impressive surge of the last three months as optimism continued to run strong for Lula's plans to overhaul the social security and tax regimes. The Workers Party president has said he would send Congress the legislation on the two reforms this month.

In the meantime, Congress was set for an afternoon vote on an amendment changing the financial system's legal framework, a necessary step in the government's effort to give the Central Bank more independence. Investors are watching the vote for signals that Lula has the influence to pull off other politically sensitive reforms, said analysts.

"What people are beginning to focus on is what kind of majority the government will be able to muster," said Suhas Ketkar, senior economist and head of emerging markets analysis at Royal Bank of Scotland.

"This is a constitutional amendment, which requires 308 votes. If they get a significantly larger number of deputies supporting the government, say they get 400 votes, that would be very positive because that would indicate the government has the ability to put together coalitions, and that spells good news for the reforms to follow," said Ketkar.

As of the end of the trading session, Brazil's Congress had not yet voted on the bill. The vote was expected later in the evening.

Since taking office on Jan. 1, Lula's pledges to keep a tight rein on public finances and to pursue reforms have won over the same investors who paled at the thought of the former union boss in power just a few months ago. Lula had spooked Wall Street with talk of debt renegotiation in previous campaigns.

The sanguine reform view has helped Brazilian bonds skyrocket nearly 23 percent so far this year. Spreads over comparable U.S. Treasuries, the premium investors demand to compensate for incurring extra risk, have steadily narrowed to close below 10 percent on Tuesday for the first time since May 31, 2002.

Traders and analysts said approval of Wednesday's vote was largely priced into bonds, but they noted a failure to pass the measure could provide a negative shock to the market.

"I think everyone is expecting it to pass broadly so we really only have downside from it -- if it doesn't pass it will be bad (for bonds)," said an emerging debt trader.

OIL, RESTRUCTURING PINCH VENEZUELA

Venezuelan debt bucked the rising tide of Brazilian bonds with a 0.15 percent drop on the day. Venezuela's DCB bond VENDCB=RR fell 0.5 point to 70.875 bid.

The slide came amid growing optimism that an end to the U.S.-led war in Iraq may be in sight. With U.S. troops now on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, investors bet the military progress could soon translate into a resolution.

If the war did end sooner rather than later, Middle East oil supplies would not likely see heavy disruptions, which in turn would mean that oil prices could come down. This would be negative for Venezuela, which normally relies on the commodity for about half its government revenues, said analysts.

At the same time, investors are also taking stock of Venezuelan bonds in light of the country's plans to undertake a voluntary restructuring of its debts.

Beyond the prospect for falling oil prices, there is "a realization that the market is going to have to face this voluntary restructuring," said Christian Stracke, head of emerging markets strategy at research firm CreditSights.

"While most people probably agree there won't be any (net present value) negative result, there's still uncertainty surrounding it, and as we've seen Uruguay -- a similar situation -- people don't really like to hold it until details of this kind of an exchange are out," said Stracke.

The Leader Online By Barney Burke Leader Staff Writer

The price of gasoline has edged past the $2 mark in Jefferson County. But gasoline doesn't cost nearly as much as many other everyday products. Photo by Barney Burke.

Petrol is cheaper than milk, soda pop, other items on store shelves

While motorists grumble about alleged price-gouging by oil companies or blame the war in Iraq or the strike in Venezuela, it's worth looking at how gasoline stacks up to other common products.

Not only are a lot of other liquids more expensive, but they won't move your car an inch.

Why is it that orange juice costs three times as much as a gallon of premium petrol? One can guess that the $5.99 cost of a gallon of OJ might reflect long-distance delivery. Look at the label on a one-gallon bottle of Minute Maid, for example, and there's a disclosure that the product comes from Brazil as well as the United States.

At $7.99 a gallon, four times the price of gas, buying a 12-pack of Budweiser beer can seem like a pretty spendy decision compared to gasoline. But the big-ticket beverage without a doubt is coffee. An 8-ounce cuppa joe at Starbucks in Port Townsend will set you back $1.30 - which translates out to a whopping $20.80 per gallon.

Another product that you can't put in your tank is latex interior paint. A gallon of flat latex goes for about five times the price of gas, and that $9.97 only gets one to two rooms per gallon, in this reporter's experience.

And then we have the one-gallon container of professional grade Roundup weed killer, which can be had for $99.95 a gallon in Chimacum, 50 times the price of high-test fuel. It isn't clear just how long that amount would last the average gardener, or how long it would take to remove it from your garden if you accidentally spill it.

But as anyone who wears hard contact lenses can tell you, the most expensive liquid known to mankind may in fact be the popular Boston brand lens cleaner, which comes in a one-ounce bottle for $8.79. At a remarkable $1,125.12 per gallon, a gallon of Boston costs as much as 562 gallons of premium gas, nearly as much as Lasik surgery for both eyes.

At the bargain end of the scale is municipal tap water. In the City of Port Townsend, residents can drink up the bounty of the Big Quilcene and Little Quilcene rivers for a modest 0.18 cents per gallon, and Tri-Area residents pay 0.25 cents a gallon for water from the Jefferson County Public Utility District 1 (PUD), or about 1,000 times cheaper than bottled water. The city and PUD charge base fees of $13.99 and $20 a month, respectively, in addition to volume charges.

By comparison, bottled water seems exorbitant. At local grocery stores, a gallon jug of generic bottled water goes for $1.90, nearly the price of a gallon of premium gas.

Gasoline is going for about the same price as home heating oil, $1.92, which in essence is diesel fuel, conveniently delivered to your door. Propane, also popular for home heating, is running about $1.55 a gallon depending on the customer's tank size and who owns it, according to local suppliers. The price of propane is expected to drop about five cents soon, one dealer said. His answer was as cryptic as the common answer from gas station owners: His suppliers simply informed him that the price is going down.

Among the most expensive petroleum-based products available locally is Marvel Mystery Oil, familiar to many old-time motorheads. Like something out of the J.C. Whitney "home of chrome" catalog, pouring the stuff into your gas tank with every fill-up is said to have many benefits for your car. But at $14.95 a gallon, the modern consumer may find the brand name lacking in scientific panache.

<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters Wed April 2, 2003 03:10 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It may be America's pastime but baseball is turning into a world game.

Of the 827 players on Major League Baseball's 30 teams for opening day, 230, or 27.8 percent, were born outside the United States, according to figures released on Tuesday.

It is the sixth consecutive year that the number of foreign-born players on MLB teams has increased.

The World Series could take on a truly international flavor in coming years with 46 percent of 6,196 minor league players signed to professional contracts also born outside the U.S.

The Dominican Republic, long a talent pipeline for the major leagues, tops the list with 79 players in the various lineups on opening day followed by Puerto Rico 38 and Venezuela with 37.

The Montreal Expos, who will play part of their home schedule in Puerto Rico, have the most foreign players with 14 while the Baltimore Orioles are second with 13.

The Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants each have 11.

A total of 16 countries along with Puerto Rico have contributed players to the opening rosters.

Japanese imports continue to make their mark in the MLB, New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui and Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki topping the list of 11 players from Japan in the majors.

Europe is also represented in the MLB this season with Britain's Lance Painter signing for the St Louis Cardinals and Germany's Will Ohman with the Chicago Cubs.

Australia are also well represented with Luke Prokopec of the Cincinnati Reds, Damian Moss of the San Francisco Giants and Graeme Lloyd of the New York Mets.

Evidence of the expanding search for talent is evident in the minor leagues where players from non-traditional baseball-playing nations such as New Zealand, Italy, Russia, China, South Africa and the Netherlands are under contract.