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HOUSTON, May 5 /CNW/ -- A group of more than 400 business executives and leaders in the financial, governmental and academic sectors participated in the conference "PDVSA, a Competitive and Sustainable Player in the International Energy Business," held by the Venezuelan oil corporation today in Houston.

The event was led by a high level Venezuelan delegation headed by Mr. Bernardo Alvarez, Ambassador from Venezuela to the United States; Mr. Luis Vierma, Deputy Minister of Hydrocarbons; Dr. Ali Rodriguez Araque, President of PDVSA; and Mr. Luis Marin, Director of PDVSA.

The host group offered details of the political, legal and financial situation of Venezuela and its oil industry.  The country's current production exceeds 3 million barrels daily and is expected to increase to around 5 million barrels daily by the year 2008, within the framework of a business portfolio that requires an investment of $43 billion during the next five years.  Of this amount, PDVSA will contribute 54 percent, while the remaining 46 percent will be covered by the domestic and international private sector.

"We are very satisfied by the large audience of important personalities of  the business and governmental sectors that responded to our invitation," emphasized Ambassador Alvarez.  "This confirms the interest and trust of the international community in the business opportunities offered by Venezuela and, specifically, our oil industry.  We took advantage of the occasion to reiterate our wish to strengthen the position of Venezuela as a commercial and energy partner of the United States and other countries."

In his turn, the Deputy Minister of Hydrocarbons, Mr. Luis Vierma, stated, "The continuing interest of international companies in investing in the Venezuelan oil and gas industry proves that the country offers an attractive and consistent legal framework.  The new Hydrocarbons Law allows the participation of private capital in upstream activities up to 49 percent, and up to 100 percent in the downstream hydrocarbon business, gas, charcoal, Orimulsion(R) and petrochemicals."

The President of PDVSA, Mr. Ali Rodriguez Araque, emphasized that "according to the best specialized information sources, oil demand will rise from 76 million barrels per day at the present time to 89 million barrels per day in 2010 and 103 million barrels per day between 2020 and 2030."  He also offered an overview of the recent crisis of the Venezuelan oil corporation, which was affected by a work stoppage unprecedented in its history.

"Despite this problem, PDVSA has proved such impressive recovery capability that today the production, refining and international trade operations are fully normalized," said Mr. Rodriguez Araque.  "This allowed us to cancel the force majeure statement in all sectors of our activity.  Now, our efforts are focused in consolidating these results, which demonstrate our success, while reviving our reputation as a safe, competitive and reliable supplier in the international energy market."

 CONTACT:
 Karen Allen (karenAvollmerpr.com )
 Alice Brink (alicevollmerpr.com )
 713-970-2100

-30- For further information: Karen Allen, karenA@vollmerpr.com , or Alice Brink, alice@vollmerpr.com , +1-713-970-2100 , both for PDVSA

Reuters, 05.05.03, 4:34 PM ET

(The following statement was released by the rating agency) NEW YORK, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today removed its 'B' rating on Petrozuata Finance Inc.'s $1 billion bonds from CreditWatch, where it was placed with negative implications on Dec. 10, 2002. Standard & Poor's affirmed the 'B' rating on the bonds, which are guaranteed by Petrolera Zuata, Petrozuata C.A (Petrozuata). The outlook is stable.

Petrozuata is a heavy oil production and upgrading project located in Venezuela that is owned by Conoco Venezuela Holding (50.1%), a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips (A-/Stable/A-2), and PDVSA Petroleo (49.9%), a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA: CCC+/Stable/--).

"The removal of the rating from CreditWatch is due mainly to the project's ability to restart and stabilize operations and to make offshore debt payments without exposure to foreign exchange controls," said credit analyst Terry Pratt. "The removal is further supported by the outlook for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and PDVSA, which was revised to stable on April 16, 2003, by Standard & Poor's because of the government's improving liquidity and a reduction, albeit limited, in economic and political pressures."

The Petrozuata project restarted upgrader operations in early March 2003 following the redelivery of natural gas and hydrogen feedstocks by PDVSA Gas and third parties supplied by PDVSA Gas. Petrozuata reports that its current operations are in line with year 2003 business forecasts.

Continued operation of the upgrader relies on continued operations of PDVSA. PDVSA has improved oil production levels to about 3.1 million barrels per day despite the dismissal of about 40% of its employees in response to a general strike. However, PDVSA operations, and thus potentially feedstock supplies to Petrozuata, remain exposed to renewed disruptions caused by continuing political and social tensions and uncertain capital available for investment.

The stable outlook reflects Petrozuata's current production above or at pro forma rates and general expectations that the project will continue to receive sufficient feedstocks from PDVSA Gas to support production and will not be subject to foreign exchange controls. The outlook could change to negative if the project's ability to maintain steady production becomes questionable, or if the credit outlook for the sovereign or PDVSA worsens. The outlook could be revised to positive if the outlook on PDSVA and the government improves.

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor's Web-based credit-analysis system, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site, at www.standardandpoors.com (under Fixed Income, in the left navigation bar, select Credit Ratings Actions).

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 05, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: The dismissal of more than 18,000 managers, technicians, modest-ranked workers and secretaries from Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has seriously impaired the capacity of the company to function at the required levels of efficiency.

In previous commentaries, I have said that staff replacements being implemented, mostly lack the minimum requirements to do an adequate job. The main reasons for this languid approach to staffing in the new PDVSA seem to be:

1. The little experience that the people in charge of staffing have in these matters, and
2. The fact that top management is increasingly failing their supervisory duties due to the fierce struggle for power going on within PDVSA for the last six months or so.

The first reason is certainly serious, but not fatal, if it can be corrected in the short term. It has to do with the abundant influx of inept employees into PDVSA, who feel that an international oil company can be run by ideological comrades. These people have no idea of the complexities involved in exploring, producing, refining and selling hydrocarbons on the international market, in intense competition with Exxon, Shell and other giants.

For this new breed of employees, the limits of PDVSA seem to be national borders, as they feel that the local market is the most important task at hand. These new people have rarely been exposed to the international environment. They tend to speak other languages, when they do, patriotically bad. They tend to imitate President Chavez, who speaks a Tarzan-like English (in half-mockery) on his frequent trips abroad.

The second reason is much more tragic, and jeopardizes the very life of the organization. The incompetence of the lesser-ranked can be solved as soon as a new government comes into place. When this happens, the current group of revolutionaries in bureaucratic positions within PDVSA will have to go back to whatever they were doing before.

What is really destroying the company is the struggle for power within the organization. This is happening before the eyes of the President of the country who does not seem to care, is probably impotent to do something about it or is promoting it in order to keep control.

PDVSA reminds us of the African scenes one sees on the Discovery Channel ... those scenes in which the carcass of a gazelle is being torn to bits by lions and hyenas, while vultures circle above, in patient wait.

There are at least four groups vying for supremacy in PDVSA.

The first is controlled by Ali Rodriguez. This group, apparently, has total control ... by means of a Presidential order which gave Rodriguez dictatorial powers to rule the company. In addition Rodriguez has in his pockets both Alvaro Silva at OPEC and Bernardo Alvarez (the Venezuelan Ambassador in Washington) while it generally receives political support from PPT, one of the government parties. But this control of Rodriguez is starting to crumble as he is being accused by government rivals of :

1. Eroding the credibility of PDVSA in the international community as nobody knows any longer how much oil is being produced, being refined or being sold. President Chavez, for example, says at one moment that production is 3 million barrels a day and 2 hours later he claims is 3.3 million barrels of day. In fact not one of these two figures is the right one;
2. creating operational chaos ... the fires in the refineries, the explosions, the oil spills, the lack of discipline in the ranks, have never been seen before in the history of the company;
3. Allowing operational costs to increase and financial management to collapse;
4. Playing into the hands of international companies, and
5. Improvising a re-structuring of the company which is actually deepening the crisis of the organization.

The group accusing Rodriguez of these misdeeds is led by current Minister Rafael Ramirez ... it is a fundamentalist group which includes Marxist radicals and remnants of the fascist organization FUNDAPATRIA ... once led by Luis Vallenilla, one of Chavez financial supporters and currently in disgrace after the scandals of CAVENDES, his failed investment bank. This group advocates a "popular" rule for PDVSA, whatever that means.

A third group, led by resurrected Planning Minister Jorge Giordani, includes Hector Ciavaldini (ejected by Chavez from the presidency of PDVSA), former Vice President and former Trade Minister Adina Bastidas and those members of MVR on the Board of PDVSA.

Still a fourth group is made up of the military elements within PDVSA, which controls one seat on the Board and the Industrial Protection Division ... which is only a pretense for spying other members of the organization. This group has the support of the Tupamaros urban terrorist organization which has taken the street adjacent to PDVSA headquarters and erected barricades all around ... just like in the times of the French Revolution.

One has to ask: Is this the way to run an international company that pretends to compete in the world market with well managed companies, in order to bring back home the money the country needs for its normal development?

My answer is no! The company, immersed in this nightmarish fight for political control among rival factions, is no longer the PDVSA we knew. This is a travesty. This is why I say that such a PDVSA can not be seen as legitimate.

As I see that my good friend Daniel Burnett has just written something along these lines I will read it with pleasure and possibly comment on it in the near future.

The tragedy of PDVSA is not only a Venezuelan tragedy ... although we are the ones who will suffer its effects most directly.  It is a truly international tragedy ... similar to the bombing of Guernica by the Nazis, to the destruction of the Buddhas in Afghanistan and to the sacking of the archeological treasures of the Iraqi museums.

It was our only First World company and ... as such ... it had to be dragged down, by the barbarians, to the levels of surrounding mediocrity.

Gustavo Coronel is the founder and president of Agrupacion Pro Calidad de Vida (The Pro-Quality of Life Alliance), a Caracas-based organization devoted to fighting corruption and the promotion of civic education in Latin America, primarily Venezuela. A member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), following nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry, Coronel has worked in the oil industry for 28 years in the United States, Holland, Indonesia, Algiers and in Venezuela. He is a Distinguished alumnus of the University of Tulsa (USA) where he was a Trustee from 1987 to 1999. Coronel led the Hydrocarbons Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Washington DC for 5 years. The author of three books and many articles on Venezuela ("Curbing Corruption in Venezuela." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 7, No. 3, July, 1996, pp. 157-163), he is a fellow of Harvard University and a member of the Harvard faculty from 1981 to 1983.  In 1998, he was presidential election campaign manager for Henrique Salas Romer and now lives in retirement on the Caribbean island of Margarita where he runs a leading Hotel-Resort.  You may contact Gustavo Coronel at email gustavo@vheadline.com

Reuters, 05.05.03, 1:34 PM ET

NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuters) - The FTSE Group said on Monday it removed Venezuela from its FTSE All-World Index because the Latin American country's currency is not widely available to international investors in the country.

Since foreign exchange is not available to international investors wishing to sell on the Caracas stock exchange <.IBC>, Venezuela is in breach of ground rules written for the management of the index.

"Many fund mangers have marked the value of Caracas-listed shares held to zero," said Peter Leahy, Co-Chairman of of the FTSE Americas Regional Committee.

"These exchange controls make Venezuela effectively uninvestable," he said.

05/05/2003 - Source: <a href=www.latintrade.com>LatinTrade-BNamericas US Power company AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) expects to receive US$125mn net income from its Latin American subsidiaries in 2003, the company said in supplementary information to its first quarter results. AES' Latin American subsidiaries contributed only about US$1mn in the first quarter, accounting for less than 1% of the company's US$180mn income from subsidiaries. But by year end AES expects to receive US$30mn from Chilean subsidiary AES Gener, US$30mn from Argentina's Alicura, US$30mn from Puerto Rico, US$20mn from Brazilian thermo plant Uruguaiana, and US$15mn from other income. "The rest is very minimal, we expect nothing else from Brazil, or Argentina," CEO Paul Hanrahan said during a conference call to discuss first quarter results. AES recently announced that it would use its 2002 profits from AES Gener to pay interest on its US$300mn debt to that company, which is due in early 2004. But AES still expects to receive US$30mn net income from its subsidiary by the end of the year. "We have confidence we can do it, but to get that operating cash flow out of the business we have to smooth out the maturities at a Gener level," Hanrahan said. Meanwhile, Venezuela's exchange controls will prevent AES from receiving any income from its power utility Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) this year, Hanrahan said. EDC closed its collection offices during the national strike, and sales were hit by the general reduction in demand, he said, adding that demand has started to recover since the end of the strike in the first quarter and EDC has resumed collecting payments. "The real question is when will exchange controls end, and when will the economy get back on track in terms of growth," Hanrahan said, adding that by 2005 he expects EDC to earn US$150mn-200mn net income annually for AES. In Brazil, AES continues to negotiate with national development bank BNDES to refinance its US$1.2bn debt. The debts were primarily taken on to pay the government for ordinary and preferred shares in Sao Paulo electric power distributor Eletropaulo, in which AES owns a 74% stake. "We are confident that a workable solution could work to the benefit of AES and the Brazilian government," Hanrahan said, but cautioned that, "we are negotiating but there is no assurance we will be successful." According to local newspapers, AES VP Joseph Brandt was scheduled to meet Friday with BNDES to discuss his company's US$1.2bn debts with the bank. Proposals presented until now by both parties have been "minimally acceptable," BNDES finance director Roberto Thimoteo said, quoted by O Estado de Sao Paulo. One of AES' local subsidiaries, AES Elpa, has exceeded a 90-day grace period on its defaulted debts, and BNDES has taken "preliminary" steps to foreclose on the shares that it holds in Eletropaulo, Hanrahan said. Earlier this week, BNDES asked the securities clearinghouse, CBLC to begin the sale process for preferred shares held by a second subsidiary, AES Transgas. The bank is not keen to become a shareholder in Eletropaulo, but will do so if it believes that is the best way to recover the debts, Thimoteo said. AES' Brazil holdings currently represent a negative affect on the company's equity of about US$1bn per year, so the sale of some of its Electropaulo shares would actually have a positive effect on equity, Hanrahan said, adding that BNDES could sell as much as 54% of AES' stake in Electropaulo. AES income from continuing operations fell 38% to US$73mn, or US$0.13 per share, for the first quarter 2003 compared to US$118mn, or US$0.22 per share, in the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was US$93mn up from a US$313mn net loss in the first quarter of 2002. The net loss for 1Q02 included a charge for the cumulative effect of an accounting change. Revenues for the first quarter of 2003 were US$2.2bn.