Venezuela will import workers

A shipping source said workers in India, the Phillipines or other nations in the Far East could be also be brought in to crew PDVSA’s domestic tanker fleet.

The government was negotiating to bring in between 40 to 50 workers to help man the ships, ‘‘enough for about two crews,’’ a shipping source said. ‘‘It’s just for internal purposes; they are trying to supply the domestic market,’’ he said.

The oil strike, which has the support of many executives and managers from State energy firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), has slashed in great numbers shipments by the fifth largest crude exporter and threatened the economy of the oil-reliant nation.

Rebel PDVSA employees have said replacement staff will not be able to operate the oil installations, but Chavez said on Thursday that operations will return to normal in a few weeks.

Venezuelan oil normally supplies over 13 per cent of imports to the US, the world’s top consumer. The loss of shipments from the South American producer drained US oil stocks by more than 3 per cent last week.