Venezuela nationalizes foreign oil rigs

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2007

CARACAS (AFP) — The Venezuelan government of firebrand President Hugo Chavez said Monday it was taking control of oil rigs from multinational firms, in the latest of a wave of nationalizations.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads the state-owned energy company PDVSA, said the firm had in the past ceded control of 18 offshore drilling platforms to foreign giants.

"These companies demand millions for the use of these machines. Faced with this situation, we have decided to nationalize this equipment," he told the official Venezuelan news agency ABN without elaborating.

Oil services firms present in Venezuela include US giants such as Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger.

At the start of his second six-year term in January, the leftist...