It’s a classic Venezuelan story: the state oil company stops paying oil contractors, so the oil contractors stop operating their facilities, so the government steps in to seize the contractors and their assets. It seems that the usual process for Chavez to confiscate private property was too time consuming, so he instituted a new process whereby he can confiscate property instantly.
I hope Chavez is happy with the oil facilities he has, because he’s ensuring that he’ll never have any more.