STEPHEN IXER, <a href=www.sfgate.com>Associated Press Writer Tuesday, April 22, 2003
(04-22) 18:24 PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

President Hugo Chavez vowed to defeat his opponents at the ballot box Tuesday as his government promised not to block a referendum on his rule.

"We are going to make them bite the dust of defeat," Chavez told a crowd of his supporters.

Such a referendum is expected following mediation by the Organization of American States between the government and opposition.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the government will not put obstacles in the way of the recall referendum proposal presented during the OAS talks.

"There should be no doubt about the government's willingness" to allow the referendum, Jose Vicente Rangel said in a statement.

Venezuela's constitution allows citizens to petition for a referendum on whether a president should step down. The vote can take place after the midpoint of a president's six-year-term -- August, in Chavez's case -- if petitioners gather signatures from at least 2.5 million registered voters.

The OAS talks were meant to bring stability to Venezuela, deeply polarized over continued rule by Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. He survived a two-day coup in April 2002 and then a recent two-month general strike to demand his resignation or early elections.

In another development in Chavez's government, Planning Minister Felipe Perez resigned, and Jorge Giordani was appointed in his place, the president told Union Radio.

The business community is likely to protest the appointment of Giordani, who was planning minister under Chavez from 1999-2002. Chavez had sacked Giordani after a failed April 2002 coup in an attempt to appease business leaders unhappy with leftist policies they blamed for driving the economy into recession.

Forbes.com-Reuters, 04.22.03, 8:41 PM ET By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, April 22 (Reuters) - Two of the world's largest oilfield services companies on Tuesday said strong North American drilling activity helped offset lower international demand caused by political turmoil in oil-rich Nigeria and Venezuela. Baker Hughes Inc (nyse: BHI - news - people), the No. 3 oilfield services company, reported first-quarter earnings that rose 33 percent on the strength of North American drilling activity spurred by big natural gas demand. Schlumberger Ltd (nyse: SLB - news - people), the largest oilfield services company in the world, said North American activity was strong, but not enough to offset lower international revenues and weaker demand at its seismic and information technology units. The company's first quarter earnings fell 14 percent over the first quarter of 2002. Schlumberger, headquartered in Paris and New York, reported net income of $149 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with $172.5 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts had projected earnings per share in a range of 29 cents to 19 cents, with a mean of 24 cents, according to Thomson First Call. Schlumberger said operating revenue rose 2.5 percent to $3.34 billion in the quarter, compared with $3.26 billion in the year-ago period. Houston-based Baker Hughes said net income in the first quarter increased to $44.5 million or 13 cents a share, from $33.3 million or 10 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Baker Hughes said it expects to meet Wall Street's earnings expectations for the second quarter and full year. "Investors have been waiting for companies like Baker Hughes to voice their optimism," said analyst James Wicklund of Banc of America Securities. "They don't seem to be irrationally exuberant." Baker Hughes on April 11 cut its first-quarter earnings guidance down to the 13-cent range from nearly 20 cents, blaming disruptions in the lucrative drilling markets in Nigeria and Venezuela. On generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, Baker Hughes' first-quarter profit was $47.4 million or 14 cents a share, compared to $70.6 million or 21 cents per share. Analysts on average expected the company to post earnings of 14 cents a share, according to research firm Thomson First Call. Schlumberger, however, was more cautious in its outlook, saying only that rising demand for oilfield services in North America is likely to continue. Activity levels outside North America "will remain uncertain until the global economic environment improves the outlook for energy demand," the company said in a statement.

<a href=www.arabnews.com>ArabNews.com-Agence France Presse

VIENNA, 13 October 2003 — OPEC, looking to cut production in order to keep oil prices from falling too far, is to call on its members to respect production quotas, an OPEC source said here yesterday.

The source said members of the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would call at a meeting tomorrow in Vienna for the organization to hold to its current quota of 24.5 million barrels per day (bpd), which is currently being exceeded by some two million bpd.

OPEC oil ministers were to begin arriving in Vienna later Tuesday. Analysts said deciding how output should be reduced, and by whom, could prove difficult.

In London, reference Brent North Sea crude for June delivery fell five cents to $25.80 a barrel. New York’s benchmark light sweet crude contract for May slipped 20 cents to $30.67 a barrel during early trading.

Traders said that fluctuations in the US price were largely caused by technical factors associated with the expiry of the May contract yesterday. “The oil market is waiting to see what happens at the OPEC meeting later this week,” said analyst Andrew Whittock at Williams de Broe.

It remained uncertain what the organization might decide on, said GNI trader Paul Goodhew. “People are kind of expecting a cut of production of around one (million) to 1.5 million barrels per day, but what OPEC actually gives us remains to be seen,” he said.

Over the weekend, OPEC President Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Attiyah said that the group must act to curb a surplus of two million barrels a day on the market since the Iraq war. However, a dealer in Singapore with a regional trading firm, commented: “They (OPEC) should not complain too much since oil prices have held at relatively high levels.”

Among the factors clouding the group’s deliberations will be the continuing uncertainty over when Iraqi oil exports are most likely to resume and over how seriously the mystery virus SARS will affect the already sluggish world economy.

OPEC had announced in January an output increase, raising its combined output ceiling by 6.5 percent to 24.5 million bpd, to curb a surge in prices triggered by a strike in Venezuela and the threat of war in Iraq. Since then, OPEC members have produced over the quota as the price of oil soared up to $40 per barrel.

There is concern now that oil prices could collapse due to oversupply. A return to the quota “is the most likely scenario” to seek to adjust prices, the OPEC official said.

OPEC seeks to have oil prices within a target range of $22-$28 per barrel. With Iraq’s oil exports expected to begin flowing again following the US-led war to unseat the regime of Saddam Hussein, OPEC has been anxious to avoid a plunge in global prices through oversupply.

Forbes.com-Reuters, 04.22.03, 6:22 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 22 (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday said the Brazil's National Development Bank would offer a $1-billion line of credit for Venezuelan projects as his government struggles to cover a deep financial shortfall. Leftist Chavez plans to hold talks on Thursday with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil, where he said officials would finalize the details of the credit agreement. "We will be shaping and putting the final financial touches to an agreement in which Brazil's National Development Bank has offered Venezuela ... a line of credit for up to $1 billion," Chavez said. The Venezuelan leader did not provide further details. Brazil's National Development Bank had previously provided financing for construction works such as an Orinoco River bridge in Venezuela. Venpres official state news agency said that the credit line would go to agricultural projects and small and medium industry. Venezuela's economy has slipped into sharp recession after a year of political conflict between Chavez and opponents demanding early elections in the world's fifth largest oil exporter. Chavez, a former paratrooper, survived a brief military coup in April last year. The nation's economy contracted nearly 9 percent in 2002 and many economists are forecasting a double-digit contraction for this year after a grueling opposition strike disrupted the oil shipments that account for half of government revenues.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 By: David Coleman

Venezuelan Ambassador to Washington, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera has issued a statement in support of Foreign Minister (MRE) Roy Chaderton Matos' weekend statements that the US State Department is being fed false information about Venezuela  ... he says "as regards the confusion over the political process in Venezuela, there are many (competing) circles of power in the United States."

Speaking to a group of investors at a special meeting of the Venezuelan American Association of the United States (VAAUS)  in New York this morning, Ambassador Alvarez Herrera referred to articles in the 1999 Constitution which oblige any public official to submit to revocatory referendums.

"This is not an option, nor is it within the gift of the National Executive.  It is in the Constitution that the people, once they have collected a certain number of (verifiable) signatures, may call a referendum to revoke the mandate of any person who has been elected ... all the way from the President to Town Mayors ... there are certain sectors that have a qualified interest to hide this fact!"

Alvarez Herrera added that friends of Venezuelan opposition leaders in the United States should help them to prepare for the electoral defeat that they will suffer in a referendum against President Hugo Chavez Frias.  "Despite all the attacks, among which they have attempted a military coup d'etat and an economic coup, President Chavez Frias remains in power thanks to his thoroughly democratic form of government and significant majority support among the people."

In separate news, Ambassador Alvarez Herrera announced that on May 5, the Venezuelan government will be relaunching its petroleum industry at an international level during trade negotiations at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas. He says "it will be PDVSA's second debut on the international market and, among others, former OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez Araque (now PDVSA president), Energy & Mines (MEM) Minister Rafael Ramirez and principal Venezuelan petroleum sector executives will be on hand to show Venezuela's new policy developments on oil in the wake of the new Hydrocarbons Law as well as to promote business opportunities with private sector investors.

Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher Editor@VHeadline.com