Venezuela lifts oil force majeure--Chavez

www.forbes.com Reuters, 03.06.03, 5:36 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela is lifting a force majeure on all of its crude and product exports, which had been severely disrupted by a two-month opposition strike, President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday. The announcement was the strongest signal yet that the world's No. 5 oil exporter was restoring its petroleum operations. The strike started on Dec. 2, but fizzled out in early February. "We have decided to suspend the force majeure on all of (state oil company) PDVSA's operational activities "... we guarantee operations to the entire world," Chavez said during a ceremony to swear a new PDVSA management board.