Strikers reject Venezuela oil firm restructure
Reuters, 01.08.03, 7:00 PM ET
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Rebel employees of state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) on Wednesday dismissed a government plan to restructure the firm to battle a 38-day strike against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The transitional plan, announced by oil minister Rafael Ramirez on Tuesday, shifts power away from the firm's current base in Caracas to two regional production centers and slashes PDVSA's management headcount. Striking PDVSA staff said those administrators were needed to run the vast international operations of South America's largest oil firm.
"How will they coordinate finances? Who will be responsible for coordinating and optimizing the movements of these mega-operating units," said dissident oil leader Edgar Paredes reading from a statement from striking PDVSA workers.
PDVSA's operations have been virtually paralyzed by the stoppage, slashing oil sales which account for about half of state revenues.
The government has been struggling to restart the oil industry of the world's No. 5 crude exporter despite strong support from key logistics PDVSA managers and executives in Caracas. Oil field and refinery workers, PDVSA tanker captains, pilots and docking crews are also taking part in the stoppage.
Oil exports have been cut to about 370,000 barrels per day (bpd) since the shutdown began on Dec. 2 compared to nearly 2.7 million bpd in November, according to official PDVSA figures. Crude production has been reduced to 450,000 bpd from 3.1 million bpd, one PDVSA executive said.
Chavez has vowed to use the strike, aimed at removing the leftist leader from power, to cull anti-government employees from the firm. PDVSA employees taking part in the stoppage say Chavez has appointed political allies to top posts ahead of more qualified personnel, and that they won't return to their jobs until he is out of power.
The striking PDVSA employees denied government claims that payroll expenses from Caracas administrators increased the costs associated with lifting crude from $3.50 a barrel to $15 a barrel.
Ramirez said 7,000 employees in the capital city cost PDVSA $1 billion. But dissident oil workers said it was government bureaucracy that was driving up the oil extraction expenses. The PDSVA strikers say government efforts to restart the industry using unqualified replacement workers is threatening installations and the safety of neighboring communities.
On Tuesday, the vacuum unit of Venezuela's 130,000 bpd El Palito domestic refinery was damaged during restart operations. The government had said before the accident that the refinery would be restarted in the coming week.
The hemisphere's largest refining complex, the 940,000 bpd Amuay-Cardon plants, remained stopped due to a lack of gas feedstock, General Manager Ivan Hernandez said on Tuesday. 277 2655))