CARACAS, Venezuela -- Ali Rodriguez has quit as secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and will become the president of Venezuela’s state-owned oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Oil Minister Alvaro Silva said, according to an Associated Press report.
Rodriguez, a former Venezuelan oil minister who became OPEC secretary general in 2001, was under heavy pressure from President Hugo Chavez to head the oil company. It wasn’t immediately known who would replace Rodriguez at OPEC. Rodriguez had spent the week in Caracas mulling Chavez’s invitation.
Venezuela is the third-largest supplier of oil to the U.S. and a leading member of OPEC.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez named a new board of directors at the state-owned oil monopoly on Monday, aiming to appease dissident executives whose revolt erupted into a national crisis that briefly overthrew the Venezuelan leader. “This team is of the highest quality, and meritocracy has been respected,” said Rodriguez during a news conference to announce the appointments.
New directors include Jose Rafael Paz, director of PDVSA’s Pequiven petrochemicals unit; Nelson Navas, director of the gas unit; Ludovico Nicklas, an executive in the production and refining department; Clara Coro, adviser to the oil ministry; and Hugo Hernandez Rafalli, head of the local Petroleum Chamber. Chavez kept two of the old directors, Arnoldo Rodriguez and Jorge Kamkoff.
Managers have welcomed Chavez’s decision to replace the board and were working to restore production. Chavez has insisted the new board will still have to implement government oil policy, which includes higher royalty rates for operating state-owned oil fields and strict compliance with production quotas imposed by OPEC.
