money.cnn.com Shipments of 688,000 barrels per day leaves country at 25% of capacity as strike carries on. January 24, 2003: 10:54 AM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan oil exports jumped 62 percent in the week ending Friday to 688,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 25 percent of capacity, as the government struggled to break a strike in the world's fifth-largest exporter, shipping data showed Friday.

Oil exports in the seven days to Friday stood at 688,000 bpd, up from 424,000 bpd in the previous week, according to information from ship agents and port authorities.

Venezuela exported 2.7 million bpd before the strike, which is intended to force President Hugo Chavez from office, and exports have averaged 519,000 bpd during the past four weeks.

"Exports are rising a bit, but they still face big problems getting foreign shippers to come back," said a Venezuelan ship agent.

Chavez is trying to break the seven-week-old strike by using troops and replacement crews at the terminals, but many lack certification to handle oil, safety standards are poor and missing documentation make insurance risks high.

Most Venezuelan refineries are shut or severely crippled, and Caracas has resorted to importing big volumes of gasoline from international markets to ease severe fuel shortages.

Three companies are regularly importing Venezuelan oil from mainland ports: U.S. refiner and marketer Citgo, fully owned by Venezuelan state company Petroleos de Venezuela; Lyondell Citgo, an affiliate; and Cuban state oil company Cupet.  

www.newsday.com By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER Associated Press Writer January 24, 2003, 10:35 AM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's opposition leaders took their case against President Hugo Chavez to Washington on Friday, joining six nations to discuss ending the country's strike.

Chavez's opponents were to meet with delegates of six nations that support negotiations mediated by the Organization of American States. Among the proposals is one offered by former President Jimmy Carter to end the 54-day-old strike in exchange for early elections.

Venezuela's opposition called the strike Dec. 2 to demand that Chavez resign or call early elections. The protests have crippled production in the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

Opposition leaders contend Chavez's leftist policies have damaged business and scared away foreign investment.

"As long as this group supports an electoral and peaceful solution to Venezuela's crisis, our efforts will coincide with theirs," Alejandro Armas, an opposition negotiator, told local Union Radio from Washington on Friday. "We need to be sympathetic, optimistic and supportive of this initiative."

The countries attending the talks are the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain.

Chavez has said he welcomed international help but warned against outside intervention in Venezuela's affairs. He urged the six nations to recognize that he was elected democratically and warned them not to give equal weight to an "undemocratic" opposition.

Adding to the tension, a pipe bomb exploded in downtown Caracas on Thursday, killing one and wounding at least 14 as about 300,000 people were rallying to support Chavez. A homeless man who was rummaging in the trash where the bomb was apparently hidden was killed in the blast, said Col. Rodolfo Briceno, the Caracas fire chief.

The rally went on as planned, with Chavez insisting that his left-wing, populist regime would outlast the strike.

Chavez accused strike leaders and the Venezuelan news media of using the strike to weaken the economy and orchestrate a coup like the one in April that briefly forced him from office.

"The Venezuelan people don't want violence," Chavez told the crowd.

The rally followed a decision earlier this week by Venezuela's supreme court to invalidate a planned Feb. 2 referendum aimed at forcing Chavez from power -- a nonbinding vote that he had declared unconstitutional.

Most blue-collar workers and half the administrators have returned to work at the state oil monopoly and production has surpassed 1 million barrels a day, the company's president, Ali Rodriguez, told the state news agency Venpres Thursday.

Union and striking oil executives disputed his claims about the work force and insisted production is about 812,000 barrels a day. Pre-strike production was about 3.2 million barrels a day.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.24.03, 10:02 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Venezuelan oil exports jumped 62 percent in the week to Friday to 688,000 barrels per day, or 25 percent of capacity, as the government struggled to break a strike in the world's fifth largest exporter, shipping data showed on Friday.

The recovery in exports adds weight to reports of rising flows at the wellhead in the OPEC member state, where a bitter political conflict is being played out in the oil industry, a key supplier to the United States.

Oil exports in the seven days to Friday stood at 688,000 bpd, up from 424,000 bpd in the previous week, according to information from ship agents and port authorities. Venezuela exported 2.7 million bpd before the strike, which is intended to force President Hugo Chavez from office, and exports have averaged 519,000 bpd over the past four weeks.

"Exports are rising a bit, but they still face big problems getting foreign shippers to come back," said a Venezuelan ship agent. Chavez is trying to break the seven-week-old strike by using troops and replacement crews at the terminals, but many lack certification to handle oil, safety standards are poor and missing documentation make insurance risks high.

Most Venezuelan refineries are shut or severely crippled, and Caracas has resorted to importing big volumes of gasoline from international markets to ease severe fuel shortages. Three companies are regularly importing Venezuelan oil from mainland ports: U.S. refiner and marketer Citgo, fully owned by Venezuelan state company Petroleos de Venezuela; Lyondell Citgo, an affiliate; and Cuban state oil company Cupet.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.24.03, 9:38 AM ET

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude futures were expected to open near unchanged on Friday, with the bias toward consolidation as the market assesses a rise in oil production from strike-bound Venezuela.

"We're still in a bit of a corrective mode," a New York broker said. "The Venezuela output seems to be rising steadily and we'll wait to see if that rises any further."

NYMEX March crude was called to open near unchanged after ending overnight trading up 2 cents at $32.27 a barrel, trading from $32.13 to $32.50.

In London, at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT) Brent March crude was 2 cents lower at $29.70 a barrel.

NYMEX crude prices had been pushed lower by reports of a small rise in Venezuelan oil production, which has been crimped by a seven-week-old strike aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez from office.

Strikers reported that oil output had risen to 812,000 barrels per day (bpd) -- equivalent to 25 percent of capacity. Earlier in the week, NYMEX crude hit a two-year high of $35.20 a barrel on fears of a U.S.-led war on Iraq.

The United States continued to make its case for war on Friday, saying it had evidence Iraq has maintained its program to produce weapons that have been banned since the 1991 Gulf War.

China and Russia have joined France, Germany and Canada in urging the United States to give U.N. weapons inspectors more time in Iraq.

The U.N. will get its report from weapons inspectors on Monday and U.S. President George W. Bush will address to the nation next week.

U.S. oil inventory data released Thursday showed an unexpected rise in crude oil stocks in the week to last Friday, defying expectations that supplies would fall below 270 million barrels for the first time since 1975.

Technical chart watchers on Friday expected NYMEX crude oil futures to stay consolidative within the month-long $30-$35 range on Friday, with technical indicators neutral and showing little sign of a breakout.

While the predominant threat of war was likely to firm the consolidation support base at $30 formed over the past month, the upside was likely to be capped by speculative selling around resistance in the $34-$35 region.

"The oil market is currently consolidating in a trading range above $30 and the bottom of that range is defended by a widening (U.S.) inventory deficit and the escalation of tension over Iraq," Paul Horsnell at JP Morgan said in his weekly report.

NYMEX February heating oil was called unchanged to 0.10 cent higher after ending ACCESS trade near flat, only 0.04 cent higher at 91.57 cents. Nearby support is expected at 89.50 cents, with resistance due at 93.25 cent.

NYMEX February gasoline also was called unchanged to 0.10 cent lower after it ended overnight trade also near flat, down only 0.06 cent at 89.75 cents a gallon. Support should firm at 88.00 cents, with resistance evident at 92.00 cents.

www.thesundaymail.news.com.au By Ashleigh Wilson 25jan03

SHE'S been Miss World and Miss Venezuela and tomorrow Ninibeth Beynon will celebrate this country's birthday by becoming Australian. Having fallen in love with the Gold Coast -- and Travers, her Australian model husband -- the 31-year-old mother of two moved to Australia five years ago and was granted permanent residency status.

Tomorrow she will join other new Australians at a citizenship ceremony in her adopted home town.

"I want to travel around Australia, I love the shopping in Melbourne, but the Gold Coast is my place -- the beaches, the coast, all of it," she said.

Her decision to take Australian citizenship comes amid threats of war abroad and terrorism at home as the nation struggles to define what it means to be Australian. Just as the proposal for an Australian pledge of allegiance was greeted with scepticism, this Australia Day, the ideals of tolerance, mateship and reconciliation are being questioned once again.

Australian troops heading to Iraq despite doubt over the legitimacy of their mission, the Bali bombings bringing terror to our doorstep, the treatment of Muslims in our increasingly suspicious neighbourhoods and the fractured voices of the nation's indigenous people debating whether to call January 26 "invasion day".

But for Ms Beynon, the urge to call Australia home is simple.

"It's the freedom," she said.

"I feel safe here in Australia. In Venezuela, it's much more dangerous. You can't leave your gate open and you need to have a hundred eyes around you when you go for a walk."

She believes the turmoil that has taken over Venezuela in the past few months has reinforced her decision to fully embrace her new home.

"It's very sad," she said.

"It's a beautiful country, I was born there, I grew up there, it's a shame."

Ms Beynon will retain her Venezuelan citizenship and despite her enthusiasm for her adopted country, she says her affection for her homeland will never fade.