Index: django/utils/dateformat.py
===================================================================
--- django/utils/dateformat.py	(revision 6142)
+++ django/utils/dateformat.py	(working copy)
@@ -251,7 +251,10 @@
         """Time zone offset in seconds (i.e. '-43200' to '43200'). The offset
         for timezones west of UTC is always negative, and for those east of UTC
         is always positive."""
-        return self.timezone.utcoffset(self.data).seconds
+        offset = self.timezone.utcoffset(self.data)
+        # Only days can be negative so negative offsets have days=-1 and 
+        # seconds positive.
+        return offset.days * 24 * 60 * 60 + offset.seconds
 
 def format(value, format_string):
     "Convenience function"