Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
June 27, 2007

Venezuela, Oil Companies Fail to Reach Agreement
------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17F5E37:A6F02AD83191E160356E35DC1E9F9A889574F7DCC14957C0 Oil minister
Rafael Ramirez says ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil will end operations in
Venezuela after refusing to give government control of their local oil
business





Venezuelan Minister of Energy & Petroleum Rafael Ramirez answers
questions during a press conference in Caracas, 26 Jun 2007Venezuela's
oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, says ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil will
end their operations in the country after refusing to give the
government control of their local oil business.

A deadline for a deal passed on Tuesday. Venezuela's state-run oil
company, Petroleos de Venezuela or PDVSA, has raised its average
ownership share in six oil ventures in the Orinoco basin from 39
percent to a controlling 78 percent.

The U.S. State Department says Venezuela has the right to nationalize
its assets, but should provide fair compensation. Venezuela has said
it will not pay cash for the oil assets it takes over and will not
compensate foreign companies for the $4 billion in debt they incurred
on the projects.

Four other foreign oil companies: Chevron, Statoil, Total, and BP,
have signed deals to continue work in Venezuela.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


.