Pdvsa allegedly to pay foreign partners with crude oil

Venezuelan state-run oil holding Pdvsa offered to pay with crude oil some debts it has standing with partners to the 21 joint ventures resulting from migration from operational agreements, industry sources told Reuters.

While President Hugo Chávez is devising a plan to take over strategic partnerships operating at heavy-crude oil Orinoco belt, the joint ventures organized in 2006 have received no compensation for lost production since last April.

"The offer is on the table: paying with crude oil rather than cash," one source claimed.

Other sources added that such a settlement runs counter to the Venezuelan laws, under which joint ventures are forced to sell their whole production of crude oil only to Pdvsa, thus preventing them from placing their output in the market. This is the reason why firms such as Chevron, Conoco Phillips and ExxonMobil, among others, ruled out the proposal.