CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Oil union leaders planned an eight-hour
                 strike next Tuesday to protest a government plan to separate gas operations
                 from the state-owned oil company, which the union fears will leave gas
                 workers with less benefits.

                 Felix Jimenez, interim head of the Fedepetrol oil union, said Thursday that all
                 40,000 workers of the state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or
                 PDVSA, are being asked to strike. Gas workers number about 6,000.

                 Venezuela is a top petroleum supplier of the United States. PDVSA has a
                 contingency plan to guarantee exports for 10 days during a strike.

                 The government plans to create a new gas company under the control of the
                 Energy and Mines Ministry. Gas workers are concerned about losing benefits they
                 enjoy from PDVSA, despite government assurances that this will not happen.

                 The government argues a separate national gas company will help develop
                 Venezuela's vast natural gas reserves.

                 Jimenez said workers also are protesting the government's failure to consult
                 workers about the new oil law, which some foreign executives complain could
                 alienate investment by raising royalty payments to among the highest rates in the
                 world. The government is scheduled to pass the law by November 13.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.