CHAVEZ TARGETS THE DRILLERS

摘要

In his never-ending search for scapegoats, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is quick to point the finger overseas. Now El Comandante has found a new bunch of foreigners to blame: Instead of Big Oil, this time he's hounding oil services companies, which do drilling, exploration, and other important work for state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). "We will not pay contractors that have tried to speculate and don't care about our company," PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez warned in an Apr. 24 video address to employees. "We have to renegotiate the rates [we pay them]."rnPDVSA already owes contractors and suppliers some $3 billion. Tulsa-based natural gas processor Williams Cos. has written off $241 million to cover late Venezuelan payments, and the company is threatening to stop all work in Venezuela unless it gets the money. Offshore drilling contractor Ensco International in January stopped workrnin the country after Venezuela confiscated a drilling rig in a dispute over payments, though the two sides agreed to a new contract on May 6.