Bush Alaskans to get Venezuela subsidy after all

Alaskans in the Bush immediately cheered the change in plans and said they need the 100 gallons of free heating oil this winter more than ever. In Ambler, Don Williams said the temperature hasn't gotten above minus 40 in two weeks.

Many families, like his, use wood stoves as well as heating oil, but others don't have a wood stove and everyone can use help, given the high cost of fuel, which was running close to $10 a gallon before the village ran out. More supplies are expected soon from Fairbanks, Williams said.

Many families in the Kotzebue region took advantage of the program the last two winters and they welcome its continuance this year, said Jackie Hill, administrator for tribal government services at Maniilaq Association, the regional health and social services agency.

In Alaska, it's available to anyone in a community that is more than 70 percent Alaska Native, according to the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, which manages the program here.

Some people donate their heating fuel vouchers to elders or churches, but very few pass it up entirely, said Hill, who coordinates the program for Kotzebue and 10 surrounding villages, including frigid Ambler.

She heard the news about Citgo's reversal Wednesday afternoon on the radio but hadn't gotten any official word. Everyone will be asking her whether it's really happening, and if so, when, she said.

Some homes aren't well insulated, and for them, 100 gallons will last just a couple of weeks, she said.

"There are people who are just really struggling to keep their houses warm," said Nels Anderson Jr., a former state senator and Native leader in Dillingham. He was disappointed over reports the program was being canceled, and happy to hear about the reversal.

"That saves me over $600," he said, noting that heating fuel was $6.27 a gallon.

He's pushing a proposal by Bethel Sen. Lyman Hoffman for the state to step in and subsidize costs when the price for heating fuel tops $3 a gallon.

Critics of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had pummeled him since Monday for suspending a program that he had milked for its maximum publicity as a champion of the poor, even in the U.S.

In the wake of Monday's announced halt, analysts had predicted this was only the first of Chavez's ambitious foreign assistance programs that would disappear, given the sharp drop in oil prices and the Venezuelan government's dependence on oil export income.

Venezuelan government officials wasted no time in reinstating the program, which saved about 180,000 U.S. households around $260 apiece in 2008. That covered about one month's heating bill. Prices are much higher in rural Alaska.

Among the beneficiaries of the 100 gallons of heating oil were 65 Native American tribes, including those in Alaska, Montana and South Dakota.

Alejandro Granado, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Citgo Petroleum, the Venezuelan government's Houston-based oil subsidiary, said he discussed the plan to renew the program with Chavez on Wednesday morning.

The decision "is the result of a strong commitment and a big effort on the part of Citgo and our shareholders in light of the current global financial crisis and its impact on the oil industry in general," Granado said in a press statement.

Venezuelan oil, which is a lower grade than conventional crude and trades at a lower price, peaked at $126 a barrel in July and now sells for about $40 a barrel. About 93 percent of Venezuela's export revenue comes from oil sales, mostly to the U.S.

Granado made his statement in Boston alongside Joseph P. Kennedy II, who's the chairman of Citizens Energy Corp., the Massachusetts-based nonprofit that manages the program.

"Chavez is trying to save face," said Dennis Jett, a former American ambassador who's now a professor of International Affairs at Penn State University. "He decided he needs to hide the fact that he's having a cash crisis."

Brian O'Connor, Citizen Energy's spokesman, said Citgo will serve as many customers in 2009 as the year before but will spend less nationally than last year since oil prices have declined. The program cost Citgo $100 million in 2008.

Daily News reporter Lisa Demer and McClatchy Newspapers reporter Tyler Bridges contributed to this story.