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Venezuela seizes Total and Eni's oil fields: reports+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)MEXICO CITY, April 3_(Kyodo) _ Venezuela seized two oil fields from France's Total SA and Italy's Eni SpA after the companies failed to comply with a government demand that operations be turned over to state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, reports from Venezuela quoted Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez as saying Monday. Since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government made the demand last year, Japan's Teikoku Oil Co. and others have agreed to modify the terms of their contracts into joint-venture formats, while Total's and Eni's contracts expired at the end of March. The Venezuelan government aims to draw more revenues from oil companies operating in the country under the new terms, in which PDVSA will have a 60 percent stake, a move resisted by foreign companies. The Associated Press reported that Exxon Mobil Corp. has decided to sell its stakes among the 32 Venezuelan oil properties rather than go along with the new terms. |