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1/2/06

Business Week: Venezuela oil fields back in state control

Businessweek

Venezuela oil fields back in state control

JAN. 1 3:32 P.M. ET Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez on Sunday applauded the return of state control over 32 privately operated oil fields with the start of the new year. Ramirez said in a statement that Venezuela has successfully completed "the recovery" of the 32 fields whose control was ceded to private hands in the 1990s under concessions allowing companies to independently pump oil under contract. A deadline to agree to convert those operating agreements into joint ventures in which the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) will hold a controlling stake expired at midnight on Dec. 31.

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