sg.biz.yahoo.com Tuesday February 4, 10:26 PM

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela's government will import more than 12 million barrels of gasoline in February in an effort to combat a gasoline shortage caused by a strike at state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela, the company president said in a report by state-run news agency Venpres Tuesday.

"We foresee imports of more than 12 million barrels of gasoline this month in order to maintain normal supply in the domestic market," Rodriguez was quoted as saying. Rodriguez couldn't be reached for additional comment.

Rodriguez didn't say how much the purchase of the gasoline on the spot market would cost. However, in a briefing with members of the foreign press last week, Rodriguez said the total cost of importing 11 million barrels of gasoline during January stood at $442 million.

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AdultsWith the strike at day 65 Tuesday, Venezuela's crude oil output is around 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d), according to dissident staff of PdVSA.

The majority of the dissident staff who joined a general strike Dec. 2 have already been fired by President Hugo Chavez. The strike was aimed at forcing Chavez to resign followed by early elections. Chavez, however has refused to give in and vowed to revamp PdVSA.

Currently, international diplomatic efforts have been stepped up in an effort to broker a deal with the political opposition and the government. The strike in sectors other than oil - has eased.

By Fred Pals, Dow Jones Newswires; fred.pals@dowjones.com; 58-212-564-1339