MSG098G/01E VENEZUELA: State Petroleum Company May Act as Industrial 'Lever'

CARACAS, Nov 07 (IPS) - The president of Venezuelan Petroleum (PDVSA), Luis Giusti, proposed that the state-run company act as a lever for national industrialisation, in Venezuela's fifth petroleum congress, which began Monday.

"PDVSA's international success has not been reflected by industrialisation within the country. We need to put PDVSA at the heart of the petroleum business and promote private participation in other sectors" said Giusti.

The cental issue under discussion at the week-long meeting is the privatisation of Venezuela's petroleum industry, which was nationalised in 1976.

Without revealing the details of privatisation plans, Giusti defended PDVSA's progress, citing private participation sin1992 in marginal oil fields and important associations between PDVSA affiliates and transnational corporations to exploit off- shore gas in the Caribbean and heavy crude in the Orinoco strip.

"We are talking about fields with 200,000 to one billion barrels, but to explore them we need between eight and 10 billion dollars over the next decade," said Giusti.

The contracts are awaiting parliamentary approval in November, meaning that the first contracts will go into effect in mid-1995.

He stressed that the petroleum industry could then act as alever for the rest of Venezuela's economy. It already generates 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, with related sectors providing 44 of the remaining 76 percent.

"We may also have to consider reforming petrochemical laws, which currently act as a straight-jacket," he continued, explaining that some intermediate stages of the refining process are under direct state control, but space could be made for private enterprise.

Giusti also proposed creating industrial parks where private enterprises can receive financial, infrastructure, technological and legal help from a consultant commission with several boards of industrialists.

"But to make the most of these opportunities, we need to change our dogmatic openness, and if the dogmatic measures have legal backing, we should change the laws," he said.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service