Venezuela PdVSA Loses Chartered Tanker For Nonpayment -3

sg.biz.yahoo.com Tuesday January 14, 3:37 AM 01-13-03 1416ET

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (E.PVZ), or PdVSA, on Monday lost the services of oil tanker Astro Canopus because it didn't pay its bill, an executive at an international crude oil charter company said.

The Astro Canopus had been on a three-year time charter to PdVSA, the executive told Dow Jones Newswires on the condition of anonymity.

PdVSA officials didn't return calls with requests for comment.

The loss comes as PdVSA scrambles to find tankers to move crude oil so it can uncap more wells it was forced to shut because of an ongoing 43-day-old general strike against President Hugo Chavez's leadership.

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01-13-03 1419ET

Venezuela PdVSA Loses Chartered Tanker For Nonpayment -3

International shipping agencies will boycott Venezuelan ports because their insurance carriers have refused to guarantee coverage as long as the strike continues, said the executive, whose agency loaded "one or two ships a week" in Venezuela.

"We've been told there are no qualified pilots, and we're not sure if there are people to moor the ships. The insurance companies have said they're not sure the ports are safe," he said.

The government has tried to replace harbor pilots and tug boat captains but industry insiders have said they don't have the licenses required to operate at the country's terminals.

"Currently, we could get to Venezuela and be told (by insurance companies) we can't load because it's too risky...so we won't be going there until the strike's over and everything settles down," he said.

Without chartered tankers, PdVSA is restricted mostly to using its own eight tankers, which limits exports to about 9 million barrels per month versus almost 10 times that in November before the strike began, according to Ciro Izarra, who was the international crude trading manager at PDVSA before the strike began.

And that's seen continuing to limit PdVSA's ability to uncap wells because there's simply nowhere for the oil to go once it comes out of the ground.

Observers have said the company is currently pumping about 400,000 barrels per day, which is close to what Izarra estimated PdVSA can ship with its own fleet.

Opposition leaders are demanding President Hugo Chavez agree to call elections in 30 days if he loses a Feb. 2 nonbinding vote on whether he should remain president.

Chavez has thus far maintained the constitution only requires him to accept the results of a possible recall referendum next August, the midpoint of his term.

Chavez's critics blame his left-leaning policies for the country's deepening economic crisis, as the economy likely contracted about 8% last year amid unemployment of 17% and inflation of 31% sparked by the bolivar's ($1=VEB1513.25) 46% devaluation.

Chavez has said the country's problems are due to an "economic coup" led by his opponents.

PdVSA Web site: www.pdv.com

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