CARACAS, Venezuela -- Citgo Petroleum Corp. parent and Venezuelan government-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) is seeking to renegotiate crude supply contracts with Citgo as part of government efforts to increase oil revenues.

"We are trying to change the structure of the supply agreements to maximize returns from the crude sales," a spokesman for the Ministry of Energy and Mines told Reuters Tuesday. Under the new supply terms, Citgo would pay market prices for heavy sour oil purchased from PDVSA, rather than the discounted prices the subsidiary currently enjoys. The new contracts would make it easier for the government to access oil money and increase profits to Venezuela, the world's No. 4 oil exporter, from the U.S. downstream operation, the spokesman added.

Effective October 25, 2002 the Consumer Product Safety Commission will require child-resistant packaging for certain products that contain low-viscosity hydrocarbons. The requirement applies to certain prepackaged nonemulsion-type liquid household chemical products, including drugs and cosmetics, that contain ten (10) percent or more hydrocarbons by weight and have a viscosity of less than one hundred (100) Saybolt Universal Seconds (SUS) at 100 degrees F (covered products). As stated in the final rule notice 16 CFR 1700, hydrocarbons are defined as compounds that consist solely of carbon and hydrogen.