Chavismo boss arrests two Chevron employees for NOT STEALING... calling it TREASON

[GatoGordo]

Exclusive: Arrested Chevron workers could face treason charge in Venezuela - sources
Marianna Parraga, Alexandra Ulmer

HOUSTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - Two Chevron Corp. employees detained in Venezuela last week could be charged with treason for refusing to sign a parts contract for a joint venture with state-owned oil company PDVSA, according to two sources familiar with draft charges against the U.S. firm’s executives.

The arrests, by national intelligence agents, marked the first at a Western oil firm in Venezuela and represent a dramatic escalation of growing tensions between PDVSA and foreign companies over control of supply contracts, the sources told Reuters.

The widening dispute could worsen operational chaos that has caused the OPEC nation’s oil output to plunge by 23 percent, or 450,000 barrels per day, since October.

“These detentions are going to accelerate the operational crisis,” another source with knowledge of Chevron’s operations told Reuters. “Procurement could end up in paralysis if nobody wants to take the risk of signing or authorizing anything.”...

...The two Chevron employees were jailed when they refused to sign a supply contract written by PDVSA executives under an emergency decree - which skips the competitive bidding process, according to a half dozen sources close to the case. Such decrees have been cited by Venezuela prosecutors as a means of extracting bribes in some recent PDVSA corruption cases.

The Chevron employees balked when the parts were listed at more than double their market price in a contract worth several million dollars, one of the sources told Reuters. The workers oversaw operations and procurement at Petropiar, an oil upgrading project co-owned by PDVSA and Chevron to transform Orinoco Belt’s extra heavy crude into an exportable product.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-chevron/exclusive-arrested-chevron-workers-could-face-treason-charge-in-venezuela-sources-idUSKBN1HU2N3

Backstory: PdVSA was nationalized (rightfully) several decades ago... long before Hugo Chavez. In 2002, 3 years after Chavez had been elected, PdVSA rank and file went on strike for better wages and benefits. Chavez FIRED over half (18,000+) the professional, highly skilled oil workers and replaced them with party loyalists (Ronald Reagan, anyone?). Only he didn't replace 18,000... he replaced them with about 40,000 Chavistas. No more worries about strikes.

Fast forward: Until recently, PdVSA had about 120,000 employees (3X) producing less than half of the oil (3.5 million BPD v. 1.5 million BPD) that they did in 1999 when Chavez came to power. No maintenance of the existing infrastructure, no new exploration, no expansion of facilities, no capital improvements. CHAVISMO DIDN'T REINVEST IN PdVSA. Just outright pilfering of the company by loyalist Chavistas.

The looting was/is prolific. Chavez' own daughter Gabriela is worth a whopping $4.3 billion... though she doesn't live in Venezuela any longer. She prefers her new homes in Madrid, Seville, Cannes and the Canary Islands. Not a bad payday for a UN aid. It is estimated conservatively that over $350 billion has been siphoned off in the last 18 years, and some say over $1 trillion+

The Chevron deal? The ONLY reason that PdVSA still produces is that Chevron is keeping the wells they own pumping. Chevron has 40% rights to Venezuelan oil... providing that management has PdVSA officers who look after Chavismo's fair share. Maduro then gifted the military all of PdVSA in exchange for the military's loyalty. Chavismo has recently gone on a "symbolic" witch hunt to weed out corruption in PdVSA. Anyone who isn't loyal or doesn't play along is fair game for the SEBIN's Helicoide prison. Many are jailed without trial, let alone charges. Most VZ officers have fled. These two who were charged with treason refused to sign off on new boss Major General Manuel Quevedo's scam... and now are paying the price.