Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:14pm EDT

Helmerich idles another Venezuela rig in dispute

* Four rigs now idled in Venezuela, up from three

* More new-build rigs terminated early

NEW ORLEANS, March 23 (Reuters) - Helmerich & Payne Inc (HP.N) has idled four rigs in Venezuela so far due to a payment dispute and expects all 11 there to be idled by this summer, the U.S. company's chief executive told an investor conference on Monday.

CEO Hans Helmerich, who had said last month that three Venezuelan rigs had been idled, repeated that his company would keep shutting down rigs as long as a dispute over nearly $100 million owed by the country's state oil company, PDVSA, continued.

PDVSA has amassed huge debts and sources have said it is skipping payments to partners and service providers as weaker oil prices and heavy government social spending have sapped its finances.

As for Helmerich & Payne overall, the CEO told the Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans that the number of terminations of new-build rigs had risen to 31 from 28 at the end of February as clients find they cannot cover operating costs with U.S. natural gas prices so weak.

While Helmerich & Payne is fully compensated for the life of the contracts, Helmerich said the company would rather have the rigs working. (Reporting by Braden Reddall, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)