Venezuela oil rebels protest Statoil gas deal

www.forbes.com Reuters, 03.12.03, 12:08 PM ET CARACAS, Venezuela, March 12 (Reuters) - Several dozen anti-government Venezuelan oil workers demonstrated outside Norway's embassy in Caracas Wednesday to protest a natural gas deal Norwegian oil firm Statoil <STL.OL> signed last month with the administration of President Hugo Chavez. The former employees of Venezuelan state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), fired for participating in a two-month strike aimed at forcing Chavez from office, said Statoil was putting its economic interests ahead of the interests of the politically divided South American nation. "We are protesting against companies that had long relationships with PDVSA which are taking advantage of the situation," Susana Ferraris, a former PDVSA trading manager, told Reuters. Statoil signed the contract to explore and develop the offshore Block 4 of the Deltana area, which included a $32 million bonus payment to the government, in February, when Chavez was sacking thousands of PDVSA employees who had joined the strike in the world's No. 5 oil exporter. The strike started Dec 2 and slashed oil output and exports, but petered out early last month and the government has been steadily restoring oil production. Foes of Chavez, who accuse the leftist leader of ruling like a dictator and destroying the economy, have been critical of the Deltana deal negotiated by the government. Carrying placards and blowing whistles in front of a western Caracas commercial center housing the embassy, the rebel PDVSA staff criticized the transparency of the Deltana negotiations involving Statoil. "Why are you unfairly taking advantage of a partner country? Is that the way you do your business?" read one placard. "They are doing business with a lying government, a dictator," Juan Conde, a former PDVSA manager, told Reuters. Statoil is also involved in Venezuela's multi-billion dollar Sincor synthetic oil project, initiated in the mid-1990s before Chavez was elected in late 1998. The ex-PDVSA workers said similar pickets could be held in front of other embassies whose companies have signed contracts with the Chavez administration, including the U.S. diplomatic compound. U.S. oil major ChevronTexaco (nyse: CVX - news - people) also signed a deal to develop a Deltana Block last month. PDVSA has enlisted pro-government replacement workers and troops to restart its strike-hit oil sector, which provides half of government revenues. Chavez is seeking to boost non-oil investment, especially in natural gas, to reduce the OPEC nation's heavy reliance on the volatile commodity.