Venezuela's Ramirez Praises PDV's late Filing of 2002 Report

Oil Daily, The, October, 2003

CARACAS -- Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez on Monday praised state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) for filing its 2002 annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), although the filing comes almost four months late and showed significant losses for the company.

"We explained to the SEC that PDV had to file late because of the sabotage to our system," said Ramirez at a news conference, referring to the two-month oil strike launched last December. "This shows that the strength of PDV is recognized being by international agencies."

The SEC received the report on Monday, after PDV filed it late last Friday -- nearly four months after the Jun. 30 deadline. Despite Ramirez's words of the support, the report reflected a...