Venezuela PdVSA Yet To Put Price On Oil Services Takeovers -Paper
21 Julho 2009 - 10:48AM
Dow Jones News
Venezuela's state oil company is yet to initiate a valuation
process for the 74 foreign and local oil services companies the
government has nationalized since May, local media reported
Tuesday.
The delay by Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, in putting a
price tag on the companies suggests those firms will have to
continue to exercise plenty of patience as they await some type of
compensation.
The total value of all the companies could be in the ballpark of
$3 billion, said El Universal newspaper, citing sources linked to
the process. But observers say the final total may be much less as
PdVSA could take into account labor and environmental liabilities,
and other factors.
PdVSA last month set up committees aimed at evaluating the
companies, the paper said, but it's unclear what else has been
done.
Officials at PdVSA were not immediately available for
comment.
The nationalization of oil services companies, which provide
services to the petroleum exploration and production industry but
do not typically produce oil themselves, is the latest step in
President Hugo Chavez' move toward socialism. It follows his 2007
decision to nationalize multi-billion dollar oil production
projects in the crude-rich Orinoco region that were once operated
by a handful of the world's largest private sector oil
companies.
PdVSA chief Rafael Ramirez last month said that sometime around
the middle part of the year all the aspects pertaining to the
compensation processes would be set, the newspaper reported.
Among the foreign companies impacted by the takeovers are
natural gas distributor Williams Cos. (WMB) of Tulsa and Exterran
Holdings Inc. (EXH), a Houston-based company. They owned and
controlled the PIGAP II gas compression plant.
Others affected include the John Wood Group (WG.LN); Gulmar
Offshore Middle East, a United Arab Emirates-based contractor; and
Tidewater Inc. (TDW), a U.S. operator of ships and barges on Lake
Maracaibo.
Ramirez said in May the companies affected have lost 632 pieces
of equipment, including boats, barges, cranes, dock equipment and
other oil production technology.
Making matters worse for the companies whose assets were seized
that were seized, the nationalization law allows Chavez to pay
companies using government debt instruments, an option Chavez has
said he may favor.
-By Dan Molinski; Dow Jones Newswires;
dan.molinski@dowjones.com; 58-414-120-5738