Venezuela to nationalise US oil rigs

[mawilson 2,133]

CARACAS, June 23 – Venezuela will nationalise a fleet of oil rigs belonging to US company

Helmerich and Payne, the latest takeover in a push to socialism as president Hugo Chavez

struggles with lower oil output and a recession.

A former soldier inspired by Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Mr Chavez has made energy nationalisation

the linchpin in his “revolution”. He has also taken over assets in telecommunications,

power, steel and banking.

The 11 drilling rigs have been idled for months following a dispute over pending payments

by PDVSA , the OPEC member’s state oil company. Rafael Ramirez, oil minister, said on

Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based company’s entire Venezuelan fleet, were being

nationalised to bring them back into production.

Mr Ramirez said companies that refused to put their rigs into production were part of a plan

to weaken Mr Chavez’s government.

“There is a group of drill owners that has refused to discuss tariffs and services with PDVSA

and have preferred to keep this equipment stored for a year,” Mr Ramirez told reporters in

the oil producing state of Zulia. “That is the specific case with US multinational Helmerich

and Payne.”

The company was not immediately available for comment.

Mr Chavez, who faces legislative elections in September, often pushes ahead with radical plans

during election campaigns.

The 55-year-old leader is having a hard time in his 11th year in power. Venezuela’s

economy is the worst performing in Latin America this year, a problem exacerbated

by a drop in oil output since 2008, power outages and soaring inflation.

The takeover of Helmerich and Payne’s rigs was not a surprise, considering Mr Chavez’s

penchant for nationalisations and the company’s refusal to work before being paid the $49m

it has invoiced PDVSA.

Helmerich and Payne is a small player in the drilling industry, but global giants like

Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes also have a presence in Venezuela.

Halliburton and Schlumberger have avoided public spats with the government.

Mr Chavez has kept pressure up on the private sector in recent months, blaming a “parasitic

bourgeoisie” for Venezuela’s recession and 30 percent annualized inflation.

He has threatened to nationalise Polar, the top brewer and food processor in the

country of 30 million. The government has also seized a bank belonging to an owner

of the leading opposition TV station and put an arrest warrant out for his partner,

who is now on the run.

Mr Chavez in 2007 nationalised multi-billion dollar projects in Venezuela’s vast Orinoco

oil region, persuading companies such as BP to accept minority stakes in facilities

they had built.

Last year he ordered the takeover of dozens of smaller oil service companies as PDVSA,

reeling from a sharp plunge in oil prices, struggled to pay contractors.

When he was flush with oil cash during a boom in oil prices that ended in 2008, Mr Chavez

often compensated nationalized companies fairly, although the 2007 takeovers led to

lawsuits from ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil.

More recently Venezuela has been slower in paying compensation.

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[spookyturtle 9,466]

Chavez is an idiot. ** him.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Chavez always has to attempt to antagonise US (which fails at this time, since TOTUS reacts to him like Chamberlain to Hitler) to divert the few Venezuelans who still want him from the fact that he is a chop***k!

[IndigoSkies 168]

At least he's not as kooky as North Korean leader.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

At least he's not as kooky as North Korean leader.

That's because Chavez was never more a "soldier" than Faisal Shahzad (whom you rightly described on the thread below).

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/261903-times-square-woud-be-bomber-pleads-guilty/