Venezuela's PDVSA Says Walkout By Rig Workers Is Illegal
13 Abril 2010 - 6:50PM
Dow Jones News
A walkout that began last week by workers at drilling rigs
operated by several foreign companies is illegal and unjustified,
an official at Venezuela state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela, or
PDVSA, said Tuesday.
Jorge Esteves, head of labor relations in PDVSA's eastern
division, said the work stoppage in eastern Monagas state began
April 6 and is causing financial losses for PDVSA and the
nation.
He said the contract workers are upset over an issue related to
their pay, but said no formal complaint was filed by the workers
that could legitimize their decision to stop working.
The rig workers provide services for China National Petroleum
Corp. and oil-field services companies Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB),
Precision Drilling Trust (PDS, PD.UN) and Petrex, which is part of
Italy's ENI SpA (E, EN.MI)), a statement from state-run ABN news
agency said. However, an official at Precision Drilling,
headquartered in Calgary, Canada, said the company doesn't own or
operate any rigs in Venezuela. It wasn't possible to immediately
reconcile the conflicting information.
So far, the work stoppage hasn't affected production as the
drilling rigs are at new wells. "But down the line this could
affect output," Esteves said.
Venezuela is South America's top oil producer.
The country faced several crippling strikes by oil workers in
years past. But the government of President Hugo Chavez recently
has aligned most oil workers' unions with his socialist government,
which has sharply reduced concerns about workers' strikes and any
potential impact on production.
-By Dan Molinski, Dow Jones Newswires; 58-414-120-5738;
dan.molinski@dowjones.com
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