Venezuela opens fields to Chinese oil corporation

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=6324

Venezuela and China signed a "preliminary agreement" for a joint company to drill for light and heavy crude in eastern Venezuela, reported the government owned Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA.

Beijing and Caracas also signed an agreement to quantify and certify oil reserves in an area of the Orinoco Strip, in southeast Venezuela.
The deals were closed in Beijing by the minister in charge of China's State Development and Reform Commission, Ma Kai, and Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads PDVSA.

The mixed company formed by PDVSA and China National Petroleum Corporation, or CNPC, will drill in oilfields in the area of Zumano, site of an estimated 400 million barrels of light and heavy crude oil and 4 trillion cubic feet (some 113 billion cubic meters) of gas, according to Venezuelan data.

[madeline_con]

1. Hugo, just go on and moon Cheney....

you're already making him so mad, the torque's gonna blow his head clean off! :rofl:

[geckosfeet]

2. You know what, you can't tell me that if Cheney and Co were

civil and sane with Venezuela; ie. diplomatic efforts, that we would not have a US company drilling there.

Its a lot cheaper working things out than going to war and taking things. So you have to be nice to someone, suck it up.

Our leadership cannot even make peace with countries in our own back yard. Thanks a bunch guys.

[phusion]

12. Exactly.

But these guys wouldn't know diplomacy if it bit them in the ass.

[cliss]

3. This is an astonishing article.

Could World War III be waged on Venezuelan soil? As the U.S. desperately pumps out Venezuelan crude oil, China now has been given a ticket to come in.

NO WONDER Pat Robertson was out of his mind this week, with foam practically hanging out of his mouth. Washington must have gotten wind of this agreement recently. You better belive they are in a thermonuclear meltdown right now. China muscling in on their territory? Now, I believer there are 2 American companies in the Orinoco belt currently.

I will be on pins & needles to see how this plays out. Hint: Washington will keep us clued in. Watch and see how venomous they are towards "The Dictator" and the "Firebrand".

WOW just unbelievable.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Read this

In the middle of successful joint military exercises, Russia denies rumor that China-Russian military is getting ready to defend oil rich Venezuela
Sonia Chopra
Aug. 24, 2005

According international think tanks, the ongoing China-Russian military is getting ready to take on United States in defending the oil rich Venezuela and oil rich countries.

Moscow has ruled out the idea of forming a military bloc or joint armed groups with China, Interfax news agency reported Aug. 24, citing a military/diplomatic source. The source added that military cooperation between the two could be successfully developed within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

International think tanks do not believe that. China and Russia are flexing their mussel. The block is also trying to draw India and Brazil into the coalition.

There is also rumor that China and Russia have assured Venezuela and Cuba that Iraq will not repeat.

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/4336.asp

[cliss]

5. OK, read it (and a few related articles there)

I'm holding 4 pieces from a jigsaw puzzle. If I lay them down, they all fit. These are 4 seemingly unrelated articles from the LBN this week.

They are:

Piece #1: Pat Robertson comes out this week and calls for assassination of Hugo Chavez.

Piece #2: China and Russia hold joint military exercises. No one seems to know exactly why. Sort of mysterious.

Piece #3: Hugo Chavez gives China rights to pump oil in Venezuela. Washington goes crazy.

Piece #4: China and Russia are intending to GUARD Venezuela from the U.S.

See how these 4 pieces fit together perfectly? That's the awesome thing about cruising the DU: you find these really good articles, that when put together, helps you understand what REALLY goes on behind closed doors. Because THEY WON'T TELL YOU. I got it now.

Thanks, NNNOLHI.

[NNN0LHI]

6. And here is the straw that broke the camels back

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=a3z63_HrIvtc

Venezuela's Chavez Squeezes Oil Companies With Taxes, Raids

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- On July 14 in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuelan government tax auditors and a prosecutor went to the offices of Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company.

They seized boxes of records to build a case that San Ramon, California-based Chevron and 21 other energy companies owe Venezuela $3 billion in back taxes. The raid is part of President Hugo Chavez's push to squeeze more money out of foreign companies that want to pump oil from the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter.

Since October 2004, he has raised heavy-oil royalty fees to as high as 30 percent from 1 percent, begun paying for some services in nonconvertible bolivares instead of U.S. dollars, and ordered oil well contracts converted into government-controlled joint ventures.

Chavez, 51, wants to use the revenue to pay for homes, clinics and schools for the 58 percent of Venezuelan families who live on less than $200 a month.

Since taking office in February 1999, Chavez has embarked on a socialist revolution: seizing ranches to hand over to the poor and starting a TV news network with promotional ads featuring a swastika painted on a U.S. flag.

Chavez says he's using oil money to bankroll a quest to become Latin America's leader against U.S.-style capitalism, and in a May 4 speech, he said ``Being rich is bad'' and ``Jesus Christ was a socialist.''

[SlowDownFast]

11. This is all heating up fast.

Two pseudo-superpowers joining forces to secure the world's last remaining oil supplies before the US gets to it.

We are heading for some serious shit, methinks.

The sad thing is, it doesn't have to be this way. I just wish we had leaders who recognized the importance of working together with other countries towards global energy solutions.

This is all going to end up very badly, not only for the US, but for the world unless we all learn to get along somehow and work together.

[cliss]

13. Yes, I've read that Chavez levied some

rather large tax surcharged recently. This article goes into more detail.

At this point, I'm wondering if maybe Washington feels it made a mistake in the "Oil Game". (Object of the game: secure all the oil for yourself. Loser goes back to the Stone Age.)

I've read that in some ways, Washington is more desperately dependent on Venezuelan oil than ME oil. I believe the 'With Love, Hugo' total is about 16% of our total import; a substantial number.

Also, Venezuelan oil is high in sulfur; it's not as good as ME oil; Light Sweet Crude which is easier to refine. I believe it costs more to refine Venezuelan oil.

But there are other reasons why Venezuelan oil could be more important: it's much closer; practically in our back yard so it's cheaper to transport it to Texas refineries.

If we were in some kind of an emergency, Venezuelan oil is much closer.

In addition, it's important to keep Chavez in line. He might give other S. and Central American countries ideas that they can jerk us around. NOT GOOD. So we have to work hard to keep them fearful, fragmented. A unified S. America is devastating to the State Department.

Meanwhile, we're stuck in Iraq. Imagine a jeep that's turned upside down in the sand. The wheels are spinning, but we're getting nowhere.

It was important to grab the Iraqi oil. But in retrospect, maybe it is more urgent to get our Venezuelan fix. Hard to tell. Either way, it was a desperate gamble. Whichever bird you catch, there are the other 10 that flew away.**

**Old saying: it's better to have a bird in the hand, than to have 10 in the bush.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. gotta update ur analogies there - that "jeep" - ??? - it be a Hummer now

.
.
.

. :silly: .

[geckosfeet]

19. China and Russia seem interested enough in Venezuelan oil. And its

a hell of a lot farther from them than the ME.

These bastard theocons will just try to take what they want from Venezuela as soon as they can come up with a plausible reason for an invasion and convince the sheeple that they need to die for it.

The fact that China is there complicates it a bit as destroying their facilities will be a bit touchy.

We are heading down the road to ruin.

[Blue_Roses]

18. wow

just wow:wow:

[wli]

8. BRIC, SCO, etc. are real enough as military alliances

WWIII will happen if Bushler, Hauptobersturmfuhrer Cheney, and Reichsmarshall Rumsfeld go after Iran or Venezuela.

[Megahurtz]

20. Fucking Greedy Assholes Better Not!

I'm so sick of this shit!:banghead: They just want to steal everyone's oil!

We have criminals in The White House!

[ToeBot]

14. Humm... bet thats one butch lamellibranch

mussel != muscle

[bemildred]

9. FWIW this has been in the works for some time now. nt

[OzarkDem]

7. Isn't China propping up the dollar

and keeping our economy from imploding? Bush isn't in a position to fight them on anything, they hold all the cards.

Does that mean we'll have to borrow money from China to cover the cost of attacking them?

Paying for illegal wars and tax cuts is a bitch.

[bemildred]

10. Yeah. All we can do is sic Pat Robertson on them. nt

[TomClash]

15. So much for the Monroe Doctrine nt

[Blaq Dem]

16. China and Russia aren't going to let the Bush Cult mess with Chavez!

So, that's what it's all about!!!!!! If the Bush Cult start messing with Chavez, then all hell will break loose!!!!