At the helm: Rafael Ramirez
- PDVSA sells remaining $1.58bn bonds
- Ensco sees no chance of rig return
- Venezuela oil workers warned
- PDVSA seeks more time to pay debt
- PDVSA demands discount from service players
- PDVSA demands service discounts
- Venezuela vetoed by insurers
- Venezuela takes over Exterran assets
- Venezuela in effort to draw sting
- PDVSA keeps hold of Ensco 69 as talks fail to end dispute
PDVSA drags feet over takeover pay-outs
Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is yet to start the a valuation process for the 74 foreign and local oil services companies the government has nationalised since May, it was reported today.
The total value of all the companies could be as much as $3 billion, said El Universal newspaper, citing sources linked to the process.
But observers told the Wall Street Journal the final total may be much less as PDVSA could take into account labour and environmental liabilities, and other factors.
Last month PDVSA set up committees aimed at evaluating the companies, the paper said, but it is unclear what else has been done.
Officials at PDVSA were not immediately available for comment.
The nationalisation of oil services companies follows President Hugo Chavez' 2007 decision to nationalise multi-billion dollar oil production projects in the Orinoco heavy crude belt.
El Universal quoted PDVSA boss Rafael Ramirez as saying last month that he expected all aspects related to the compensation process to be set by the middle of this year.
Among the foreign companies hit by the takeovers are US gas player Williams and Houston-based Exterran Holdings.
Others affected include the John Wood Group, Gulmar Offshore and Tidewater.
Ramirez said in May the companies affected have lost 632 pieces of equipment, including boats, barges, cranes, dock equipment and other oil production technology.