<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, April 04, 2003 By: Oliver L. Campbell

VHeadline.com commentarist Oliver L. Campbell writes: May I refer to a couple of points on internationalization made by Kira Marquez in her article about corruption in Venezuela?

At the time downstream investment abroad was proposed, it was felt selling all crude and products f.o.b. Venezuela left the State in a vulnerable position vis-a-vis the competition from the multi-nationals and other national oil companies. One may, or may not, agree with this assessment, but the objective of assuring an outlet for Venezuelan crude oil surely cannot be faulted.

The Veba joint venture was a net-back deal. The value of the oil sold to Ruhr Oel was determined by taking the sales proceeds of the products sold in the German market and deducting marketing, distribution and refining costs. The value thus depended on how buoyant the German market was at any time, and a further complication arose from movements in the DM/$ exchange rate. Both these factors, local market conditions and currency rates, have to be accepted when you invest abroad. CITGO is an exception as regards currency since the local market sales are in dollars.

Anyway, the net-back varied because of those two factors, and sometimes PDVSA got more than it would have done from selling the crude tel quel and sometimes less.

Even if the net-back was at times lower than the crude oil value, it can be argued this was the price for assuring a long-term outlet of crude oil sales.

As regards the refinery crude intake, PDVSA greatly reduced freight costs by buying light Russian crude oil (Ural) for Ruhr Oel in exchange for Venezuelan crude oil sold to Russia for Cuba. You cannot say PDVSA was anything but efficient. The initial problem, later overcome, was that refining and marketing costs in Germany were on the high side

The really large investment downstream was in CITGO and other USA refineries ... PDVSA believes the benefit is in the long-term assurance of crude oil sales to the USA. They assert the added value of refining and marketing directly in the USA is in the order of $1.50 per barrel. Whether you believe this or not, the fact is the refineries abroad refined 1,026,000 bpd in 2001, not far below the 1,246,000 bpd refined in the national refinery system. It is also important to note that, according to PDVSA’s Annual Report for 2001, The Corporation placed 85% of its heavy crude exports in its refineries abroad.

The alternative to not refining around a million barrels per day in refineries abroad is either to sell the crude oil tel quel or construct new refinery capacity in Venezuela. PDVSA is short of funds for the latter and, in those circumstances, upstream investment in new oil fields gives a much better return. Whether PDVSA should sell the refineries abroad, and return to the vulnerability of being an f.o.b. Venezuela seller of crude oil, is something our readers may wish to debate.

I fully share Kira Marquez’s views that more must be done to upgrade Venezuela’s heavy crude oils. Most of the world’s refineries were not designed to process heavy crude oils, and the Venezuelan ones also have many nasty characteristics which damage the plants.

One option is to construct the upgrading facilities in Venezuela, but does PDVSA have the funds available?

Another is to form a joint venture with a refiner abroad under which plants are modified to accept Venezuelan heavy crude oils. Modification costs less than new construction and it certainly takes less time to implement. However, this proposal may meet with the same opposition as other downstream investment abroad.

In brief, investments abroad should be seen as long-term measures to assure outlets for Venezuelan oil. There will be times, particularly in a rising market, when spot prices of crude oil will exceed realizations obtained under the different ventures, and the converse should also occur.

• To measure realizations at one point in time against spot prices is not particularly useful.

Kira Marquez’s concerns are pertinent and it is hoped the above sheds some light on her statement ... it does not explain, however, why PDVSA decided to invest in these refineries in the first place.

Oliver L Campbell, MBA, DipM, FCCA, ACMA, MCIM  was born in El Callao in 1931 where his father worked in the gold mining industry.  He spent the WWII years in England, returning to Venezuela in 1953 to work with Shell de Venezuela (CSV), later as Finance Coordinator at Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).  In 1982 he returned to the UK with his family and retired early in 2002.  Campbell returns frequently to Venezuela and maintains an active interest in political affairs: "I am most passionate about changing the education system so that those who are not academically inclined can have the chance to learn a useful skill ... the main goal, of course, is to allow many of the poor to get well paid jobs as artisans and technicians."  You may contact Oliver L Campbell at email: oliver@lbcampbell.com

tribnet.com DARRIN BEENE; The News Tribune

The Seattle Mariners' home opener is less than a week away and Julio Cruz is feeling that familiar stirring inside.

On Tuesday, Cruz makes his debut as the color commentator for the Mariners on their new Spanish language radio network. Amaury Pi-Gonzalez will handle the play-by-play as all 81 home games will be broadcast in the Tacoma/Seattle area on 1360-AM, KKMO Radio Sol.

Cruz said he experienced butterflies while doing a trial run last week just like the ones he had before each game of his 10-year major league career with the Mariners and Chicago White Sox. That feeling is a good sign, he said.

"I once asked one of my coaches why I got so nervous before each game and if I would ever get over that," Cruz said. "Vada Pinson, rest his soul, said it was a good thing. He told me that when that feeling leaves you, then you leave the game.

"So, I must want to do it if I'm feeling this way."

The Mariners think it is a good time, even with the stagnant economy and war in Iraq, to broadcast games in Spanish. In January, they signed a two-year agreement with the KXLY Radio Group to have home games broadcast here and to Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima, Tri-Cities and Ontario, Ore.

KXLY, which has the rights to broadcast the Mariners in Spokane, also owns the radio rights to Washington State athletics.

"To start something from scratch we want it to be a success right from the beginning," said Randy Adamack, Mariners vice president of communications. "They know what it takes to get games on the air and make them sound good."

That shouldn't be a problem if the broadcast crew has anything to say about it - and they do, of course. Pi-Gonzalez has a distinguished 25-year career broadcasting Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants games and has called seven World Series. Roger Nelson, KXLY's network director of sales and operations, called Pi-Gonzalez "arguably one of the best in the business."

Then there's Cruz, the popular and bubbly second baseman who reached the Mariners in their expansion season of 1977. Cruz, who played in Seattle until 1983, remains the team's career leader in steals with 290.

It's his first radio job, but what he lacks in experience he will make up for in enthusiasm if the trial run at Safeco Field is an indication.

For practice, Nelson said Cruz and Pi-Gonzalez watched a taped game from last year against the Texas Rangers and called the action. At first, Cruz was talking as fast as he used to run. Nelson said he was a little "frenzied."

"We stopped everything and said 'Guys, this is two fellas sitting down in a sports bar talking about a baseball game. It's just like you're talking to one person,' " Nelson said. "After that, it was magic. It was like they had been doing it for 10 years. They've got an immediate chemistry that is just amazing."

Cruz admits that he was "tight" at the start. Nelson said once Cruz relaxed he did a good job of sharing his insight and is "very polished."

One thing Cruz, who was born in Brooklyn, had to sharpen was his Spanish. Because he speaks with a Puerto Rican slang, Cruz said he has a tendency to drop the "s" and to not roll his "r's" as much.

As far as how he'll handle his job, Cruz said he'll keep his analysis short so that he doesn't talk during the action and he'll try not to be too critical. And he's got to handle those nerves.

"Some of these people are going to be hearing Mariners games for the first time," Cruz said. "I grew up listening to Vin Scully, Curt Gowdy and Joe Buck. And now they're going to be listening to Julio Cruz. Wow."

The Mariners and KXLY think there will be plenty of people tuning in. Since 1990, the state's Hispanic population has more than doubled to 441,509, according to the 2000 census.

Adamack said he's had plenty of e-mails and phone calls from Hispanics expressing their interest in the Mariners. Nelson said because of baseball's large number of Latin American players it follows that Hispanics would be interested in the sport.

According to major league baseball, 193 of the 827 players on opening day rosters (23.3 percent) were born in Spanish speaking countries (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Colombia and Nicaragua).

"There is already a huge baseball population that is ... listening to the Mariners that would rather hear it in Spanish," Nelson said. "It's not like we are creating a new audience - yes, we're doing some of that - at the same time, we're taking a lot of the existing audience and super-serving them."

Darrin Beene: 253-597-8656 darrin.beene@mail.tribnet.com (Published 12:30AM, April 4th, 2003)

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, April 04, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

After returning to Buenos Aires, former Argentine President Raul Alfonsin held talks with current President Eduardo Duhalde to discuss his recent visit to Venezuela and the country's political situation.

• Alfonsin told Duhalde that his visit to Venezuela had been positive and that he felt a solution to the conflict was "possible."

The Argentine opposition leader also said that President Hugo Chavez Frias was right not to facilitate a revocatory referendum, but conceded that the opposition was also within its rights to demand one. For a lasting solution to be reached "a climate of peace and tranquility" will be necessary.

Alfonsin visited Venezuela for ten days and held talks with key government and opposition leaders, he visit coming just days after Executive President Jose Vicente Rangel returned from a tour of Latin American countries, including Argentina, to explain Venezuela's political situation.

Alfonsin also commented on the absolute "freedom of the Venezuelan press" despite claims by opposition leaders to the contrary.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, April 04, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general Cesar Gaviria, government and opposition leaders have found common ground in the pursuit of an electoral solution to Venezuela's ongoing political crisis, and an agreement on an electoral solution may not be too far away.

Following the week's last session Gaviria said "after the discussion on an eventual agreement, government and opposition negotiators have found some common ground to work on towards an agreement."

This follows comments from Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel several days ago that the government was ready to discuss a possible revocatory referendum, providing President Hugo Chavez Frias would be given the opportunity to stand in general elections should be fail to win the referendum.

The OAS-led negotiations are set to resume again next week to further discuss the proposal, which under the current Constitution could see elections as soon as August this year.

Ventura County By Frank Moraga, moraga@insidevc.com April 4, 2003

Students, faculty and the community will encounter a variety of Latin American cultures when the annual Festival de Encuentros commences Monday at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

The eighth annual event celebrates the cultures through traditional foods, music, dancing and entertainment, said Liz Ramos, vice president of the university's Latin American Student Organization, which is hosting the festival in cooperation with the institution's Multicultural Programs Office.

Flags of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will be flown from CLU's flagpole and in the university's library through April 11.

"Every different country has a different culture and beliefs," Ramos said. "All week we will have facts about different Latin American countries, such as Argentina and Cuba, posted on bulletin boards so we can reach out with factual stuff as opposed to the stereotypical ideas we have about those countries."

The program begins Monday, when all campus employees are invited to a sack lunch and performance by a Los Angeles-based mariachi group at noon at the Pavilion in the center of the campus.

That evening, members of the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center in Oxnard will present a Baile Folklorico performance from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Pavilion.

The program continues at noon Tuesday, when students are invited to have lunch with the university's Latino faculty, staff and administration at the Pavilion, followed by a "movie night" presentation from 7 to 8 p.m. in Nygreen 1. Plans are being finalized for the showing, which could include the HBO Films release of "Real Women Have Curves," Ramos said.

A special Latino chapel service in Spanish and English will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Samuelson Chapel near Olsen Road followed by a "pulga" (flea) craft fair from noon to 2 p.m. at the Student Union Building. Events that day will conclude with storytelling and poetry reading from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Centrum next to the university's cafeteria.

Salsa dancing and lessons will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Pavilion.

"The salsa lessons are our biggest turnout, and we often get 60 to 100 dancers," said LASO faculty adviser Damien Pena, who has been involved with Festival de Encuentros since 1999.

Activities will continue Thursday with a performance by "rock 'n' Espanol" bands Aerosol and Jamboch from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pavilion.

Festival de Encuentros will conclude Friday with a presentation at the Pavilion on the facts and myths surrounding sex by community educator Xochitl Gomez, Ramos said.

All the events at the campus, at 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks, are free and open to the public. Past Festival de Encuentros have drawn community visitors from throughout Ventura County, Pena said.