In honor of The Worker, Hugo Chavez will be seizing 4 oil projects in the name of a free Venezuela today! By “free” I mean “free to see their oil production fall apart as they drive out foreign investment”:
Critics say that [state company PDVSA] has hired many inexperienced personnel, resulting in a string of deadly refinery and oil field accidents. The company had a chance to retain hundreds of experienced employees from its joint-venture partners when it took control of the 32 fields last year, but it stumbled badly by cutting salaries by an average of 30%. That led to mass desertions [. . .] Production at the 32 fields taken over by the company last year has fallen 100,000 barrels a day, or roughly 20%, the result of lower investments by PDVSA and its minority partners, prompted in part by legal uncertainties. Diminishing prospects in Venezuela lead international companies to cut their investment there last year to $540 million, down from $1 billion in previous years.
As Mr. Nobody put it, “Workers of the world, ignite! You have nothing to lose but your minds!”