Chavez goes forward with Orinoco region plan

President Hugo Chavez ordered by decree on Monday the takeover of oil projects run by foreign oil companies in Venezuela’s Orinoco River region.

He said Monday that he has decreed a law to proceed with the nationalizations that will see state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, taking at least a 60 percent stake in the projects.
Chavez did not detail how the government will pay for its increased share in the projects in which the companies are estimated to have invested some $17 billion.

The government has compensated companies reasonably in recent weeks for nationalizations it has carried out in other sectors, but those agreements were for assets valued far less than the oil projects.

The Orinoco projects are the only oil-producing operations in the country remaining under private control, which Chavez called “disgraceful.”

Houston Chronicle