<a href=www.quicken.com>Dow Jones Tuesday, April 15, 2003 09:42 AM ET     CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries member Venezuela wants to keep pumping as much oil as possible even if, as expected, the group reduces output to bolster sagging world prices, a senior Venezuelan Oil Ministry official said Tuesday.

"We need to recover what we've lost but that doesn't mean we don't support OPEC's intention to stabilize the market," the official told Dow Jones Newswires on the condition of anonymity.

But " Venezuela has every intention to return to its quota as soon as lost revenue has been made up," the official said.

Venezuela's government claims output has now topped 3.1 million barrels per day - versus its current OPEC quota of about 2.8 million b/d - after being down as low as 150,000 b/d after a general strike that began Dec. 2 all but shut the vital oil industry. The government has said it lost about $7 billion due to the strike.

Former managers at state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA have put production at closer to 2.6 million b/d.

OPEC members are expected to meet April 24 in Vienna to decide whether to cut production.

-By Jehan Senaratna; Dow Jones Newswires; 58212 564 1339; jehan.senaratna@ dowjones.com

CNNMoney-Reuters April 15, 2003: 8:43 AM EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC confirmed Tuesday that it will hold an emergency meeting April 24 in Vienna to discuss cutting supplies in response to a sharp drop in world oil prices.

Despite a halt in Iraqi exports due to the U.S.-led war on Baghdad, prices have slumped by 30 percent in a month on a rising tide of exports from U.S. ally Saudi Arabia and other cartel members.

"It's definitely the 24th," an OPEC spokesman said, clearing up uncertainty over possible dates for the meeting.

Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said Monday that OPEC could stop prices falling further simply by improving compliance with its agreed ceiling of 24.5 million barrels per day (bpd), as the cartel is now pumping some two million bpd above that.

Other members could push for a cut in formal quota limits.

The Arab-dominated cartel will also discuss the return of Iraqi exports after the war, although this is unlikely to affect quotas yet.

OPEC President Abdullah al-Attiyah said last week that oversupply on world markets already topped two million bpd, and could reach four million with the return of Iraq in the months ahead.

Countering this view, Algeria's Khelil said any decision by OPEC now should take into account an expected demand rebound in the summer which could see prices rise again.

Commercial oil stocks worldwide are well below normal levels due to a series of supply interruptions from Venezuela, Nigeria and Iraq, although they have shown some signs of recovery in recent weeks.

Despite the sharp fall in prices, OPEC's reference price is now hovering around OPEC's target level of $25 per barrel, having topped $33 last month.

Saudi Arabia stepped in to cover for the Iraqi stoppage, and now accounts for three-quarters of OPEC's output above quota. Its view will be crucial.

Oil industry think-tank, the Center for Global Energy Studies, said Saudi Arabia could even seek to retain most of its recent output surge by negotiating cuts on the basis of current output, instead of quotas.

This would provoke a storm of protest from other members, who are all keen to protect their market share.

When Iraqi sales do resume, analysts believe they will rise gradually and take several months to regain their pre-war level of 2.5 million bpd.

OPEC will probably give Baghdad freedom to pump at will until it reaches its historical quota level above three million bpd, which Iraqi experts expect to take several years.

Before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Baghdad had the same quota level as Iran at 3.1 million bpd. Iran's quota has since risen to 3.6 million.

U.S.-backed Iraqi exiles formulating postwar oil policy for Iraq think it will take three or four years to regain output capacity of 3.5 million bpd, according to briefing papers obtained by Reuters.  

Xinhua News

Alvaro Silva, the secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) , said on Monday that members of the bloc may adjust production quotas, even though there is certain "flexibility."

In a statement issued in Vienna, Austria, Silva said production quotas established by OPEC were not to be strictly complied with and member countries could keep some tolerances.

In a telephone interview, Silva, Venezuela's former energy and mining minister, told Venpres, the Venezuelan State-run news agency, that these quotas were the consequence of the Iraqi conflict and political problem faced by Caracas.

He said Venezuela remains within the range of forecasts established by OPEC and the excess on quotas is coming to an end.

The official considered the war had not produced a rise, but a drop in price, caused by an estimated two-million-barrels over- production a day.

He announced that OPEC will hold a meeting on April 24 to discuss the possibility of "shrinking" production volumes in the market through a cut or a strict compliance with quota levels.

The measures to be taken at the meeting next week would be positioned to maintain a balance between supply and demand in order to keep oil prices within 22 to US$28 per barrel, Silva added. Xinhua news

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 By: David Coleman

45th Control Court judge Alejandro Rebollo has sentenced 39-year-old Portuguese citizen Joao de Gouveia to 29 years and 11 months in prison for the qualified homicide of  innocent bystanders Jaime Giraud, Keila Guerra and Josefina Inciarte and the wounding of more than 28 others as hundreds of people attended an opposition rally in Plaza Altamira on December 6 last year after de Gouveia opened fire, killing three people and wounding 28 others.

The live-televised and blood-curdling shootings heightened tensions on the 5th day of an opposition led national stoppage aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez Frias to resign or call an early referendum on his controversial rule.  Nine were killed during the two-month stoppage, which ended in failure early February with routed opposition saboteurs in disarray, in hiding from justice or already afforded asylum abroad.

The accused had been brought under heavy escort to the Palace of Justice in downtown Caracas from the La Planta prison at 4:00 a.m. to attend the hearing which began 2:30 p.m. Monday and continued through 6:00 p.m. when the verdict was made known.

Defense lawyer Carlos Bastidas says that de Gouveia opened proceedings by admitting that he had fired the shots but claimed that he was out of his mind at the time and asked forgiveness of the victims' families ... the sentence is to be published within 5 working days and defense attorneys have a further 5 days in which to appeal the length of sentence.

Forums

Referendum 2003 discuss the pros and cons of a revocatory referendum

President Hugo Chavez Frias express your opinions on the Presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias and his Bolivarian Revolution

Bolivarian Circles Are Bolivarian Circles a Venezuelan form of Neighborhood Watch Committees or violent hordes of pro-Chavez thugs?

Venezuela's Opposition What is it? Is a force to be reckoned with or in complete disarray?

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    © 2003 VHeadline.com All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy Website Design, hosting and administration by: Integradesign.ca 

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 By: David Coleman

Police detectives are claiming that the explosive used in the Caracas Teleport building bombing is the same Semtex used in the bombings at the Colombian consulate and the Spanish embassy last month ... and in a fresh twist, the lone detainee, Rolando Duin, is described as having both Venezuelan and Colombian ID cards.

Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez says that there are certain coincidences which are currently under investigation.  Duin is under police custody but authorities say he is not a suspect, a witness not is he a victim to the incident.

PoliChacao commissioner Leonardo Diaz Paruta says that on March 29, Duin requested police protection claiming political persecution ... he told police officers he had been brought to Venezuela by as yet unnamed elements to place explosive devices at specific points in the Caracas Metropolitan area but had changed his mind and sought police protection for his own safety.

Duin had been transferred to the Victims Protection Unit of the Official Ombudsman's Office on April 1, and was to have been transferred to the custody of the Baruta municipal police, but was finally transferred to PoliSucre police custody after Baruta authorities claimed they did not have sufficient resources to guarantee his security.

VHeadline.com sources insist that government intelligence agencies have traced the intellectual authors to the Teleport bombing to a radical opposition grouping linked to rebel military officers who took part in the April 11 coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez Frias ... "Military Intelligence (DIM) and State Security (DISIP) police have already linked the bombing to the incidents last month at the Colombian consulate and the Spanish embassy."

Forums

Referendum 2003 discuss the pros and cons of a revocatory referendum

President Hugo Chavez Frias express your opinions on the Presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias and his Bolivarian Revolution

Bolivarian Circles Are Bolivarian Circles a Venezuelan form of Neighborhood Watch Committees or violent hordes of pro-Chavez thugs?

Venezuela's Opposition What is it? Is a force to be reckoned with or in complete disarray?

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    © 2003 VHeadline.com All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy Website Design, hosting and administration by: Integradesign.ca