Venezuela Offers More Gas to U.S.

[Khephra]

By Peter Behr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 19, 2003; Page E02


Venezuela, already a major oil supplier to the United States, wants to develop two more major gas projects that could help meet growing shortages of U.S. natural gas supplies in the coming decade, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said yesterday in Washington.

"We have placed at the disposal of the U.S. our reserves of natural gas," Ramirez told reporters in a message meant to reassure both the oil and gas industry and the Bush administration about Venezuela's policies and stability.

By 2008, new and existing projects could produce 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day for U.S. markets, delivered by tanker as super-cooled liquefied natural gas, said Deputy Energy Minister Luis Vielma. That amount of LNG would equal 10 percent of current U.S. natural gas consumption.

But Venezuela's offers of help haven't eased friction between the government of President Hugo Chavez and the Bush administration, analysts say. "There is a definite coolness" coming from the Bush administration, said Gerald Kepes, a managing director at PFC Energy in Washington.

more...............

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13560-2003Jul18.html

[bemildred]

1. This is pretty funny.

Hang in there Venezuela, he'll be gone soon.

[Nambe]

2. Ceasar is trying to ruin the shortage lies.

Commie bad boy.

[BiggJawn]

3. Noooooo! US suppliers finally have the price up where they want it!

And here comes Chavez, throwing a monkey wrench into the whole works???

NIPSCO told us this week to expect a 20% increase in price this winter...

A few mild winters, consumption goes down, price falls because there's a glut of gas (don't go there!) so what do these patriotic red-blooded Murkan companies do?
Why, they scale back production, demolish plants, cap wells, anything to get rid of the surplus.

Now we have no surpluses, so the price goes up. If we get hit with a rough winter, there will be a LOT of people getting cut off on the first warm day of March because they can't pay for Dec-Feb's usage. And I'm talking folks with jobs here, not the dis-advantaged, who are gonna be competing for very few assistance dollars...

We're fucked. I spent an "enjoyable" <sarcasm> evening listening to my girlfriend kvetch about this. I dunno, maybe she expects me to switch over to a beer-egg diet and sit on the gas meter?

[CHIMO]

5. Good Idea

Really liked your solution. And bring in some cows.

Maybe some hot air from politicians would also help. I have a tread mill just waiting to be designed.

[indictrichardperle]

6. good point

Back when Clinton was president, and i had a few pennies invested in the market , i had a natural gas stock. Every single well, it seemed was capped. I dont think there is any shortage of natural gas, no matter what bullshit they put out.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

4. tribute (noun) - 1. payment extorted by gangsters on threat of violence

tribute (noun) -
1. payment extorted by gangsters on threat of violence
"every store in the neighborhood had to pay him tribute"
Synonyms: protection

2. payment by one nation for protection by another

[bemildred]

7. Must have got their attention.

Here's a Chavez the evil dictator OpEd from the LA Times today:

As Venezuelans prepare for a constitutional
referendum this year on the future of their nation's
leadership, President Hugo Chavez has stepped up
efforts to curb media freedoms in his country,
sending a disturbing message at home and abroad.


Chavez's actions signal his hesitation to honor
agreements aimed at resolving the Venezuelan
political and economic crisis that led last year to a
coup against him. Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general
of the Organization of American States, brokered
these accords in May. And Chavez's conduct
undercuts the conflict-resolving efforts of the
six-nation Group of Friends of Venezuela, whose
goal is to defend democracy for their Latin
American neighbors.

Freedom of the press is a pillar of democracy. But,
adding to the bad old practices of getting
government-sponsored mobs to beat journalists in
the streets or throw rocks through their office
windows, Chavez and his cronies, in presidential
halls and congressional corridors, now plot ways to
assault the media at a higher level.

LA Times

Unattributed, and with the facts wrong from start to finish. Must
have come straight from Bolton's desk at the State Department.