Military officer named head of Venezuela's state oil company

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday named Gen. Guaicaipuro Lameda head of state oil company PDVSA, promising a thorough restructuring of the company following a strike by oil workers in the world's No. 3 petroleum exporter.

"Starting today we are going to start a thorough restructuring in PDVSA," Chavez said during his weekly radio show, "Hello President."

"The new president of Petroleos de Venezuela starting from today is General Guaicaipuro Lameda," he added.

The four-day strike by oil workers ended Saturday when the government conceded to workers' demands.

Lameda will be the third president of PDVSA appointed during Chavez's 20-month-old administration. Chavez, a former paratrooper, has pledged to eliminate widespread graft in the state oil company.

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