(Venezuela) PDVSA Seeks to Renegotiate Private Contracts

[bemildred]

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA wants to renegotiate several contracts with private foreign operators, saying it intends to improve the terms of agreement, PDVSA president and energy and petroleum minister Rafael Ramírez told reporters Friday.

"There's a number of these operating agreements that are bad for PDVSA. They are too costly, they provide too costly a service and, under those conditions, we don't want to go on," Ramírez said, adding that five or six of the 33 agreements have "serious problems."

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When asked by BNamericas what will happen if operators leave the fields, Ramírez stated bluntly: "If withdraw, we will continue."

The minister met Friday morning with officials from private oil association AVHI, "and explained the situation to them," he said, adding: "There's a spirit of discussing the issue frankly."

Rig Zone