Venezuelas Chavez: "Oil is a Geopolitical Weapon"

[chlamor]

Venezuela's Chavez: “Oil is a Geopolitical Weapon”

Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

By: Nikolas Kozloff - COHA
Over the past few weeks there have been some signs that Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez has backed down from his earlier confrontational posture towards Washington. According to the Venezuelan foreign minister, Chavez has no intention of reducing oil exports to the United States. The economic importance of oil in terms of Venezuelan-U.S. relations cannot be overstated. Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter in the world and the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States after Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. Last year, Venezuela’s state owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) accounted for 11.8% (1.52-million barrels a day) of U.S. imports.

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For a time it seemed that their bilateral relations could sink no lower. Though there are many reasons for the deterioration in relations (including Chavez's ties with Washington’s anathema, Cuban President Fidel Castro, the Venezuelan president’s criticism of U.S.-led efforts for a free trade zone in the Americas and Chavez’s opposition to the war in Iraq) oil was surely of paramount importance. When he took office in 1998 Chavez launched a reform of Venezuela's oil policy, seeking to reestablish a predominant role for the presidency in the design and implementation of an oil strategy through the Ministry of Energy and Mining. This move challenged vested interests in Pdvsa, a powerful, almost autonomous, company with total assets estimated at $100 billion.

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Chavez turns on the Charm
Chavez’s recent conciliatory statements have brought little slack from Washington as the Bush administration’s harsh anti-Chavez rhetoric continues to boil over whether its splenetic utterances coming from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or routinely from the White House and State Department press offices. On one level, Venezuelan imbroglio seems to be heading towards deeper water. Chavez has repeatedly stated his determination to reduce his country’s dependency on oil sales to the United States. Accordingly, he has begun exploring the sale of parts of Citgo, Pdvsa’s marketing and refining affiliate in the U.S. Citgo owns eight refineries and almost 14,000 gas stations located primarily in the eastern part of the country. Chavez has complained that Citgo, whose refineries are especially adapted to process heavy crude oil from Venezuela, sells oil to the U.S at a discount of two dollars a barrel. “We are subsidizing the U.S. budget,” griped Chavez, who says Citgo contracts were signed before he assumed office in 1999.

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Caracas Looks to Asia
In order to diversify the Venezuelan market for oil, Chavez made plans to begin shipping Venezuelan crude to China, the world's second-largest energy consumer after the United States. ”Reaching China is a strategic question,” says Ramirez. “It would be a mistake not to have a presence there. They are switching over from coal to more efficient fuels.” In Beijing last December, Chavez remarked ”We have reached agreements with China to begin to exploit 15 mature oilfields in eastern Venezuela that have more than one billion barrels in reserves, and a large part of that oil will come to China.” What is more, Chavez stated that Venezuela wanted to become a "secure, long-term" petroleum supplier to India and this month the two countries concluded an energy cooperation agreement.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1408

[bridgit]

1. he's right...

and the bush admin knows it

[bemildred]

2. Today's "No Shit, Sherlock!" award.

No offense to President Chavez.

[Selatius]

3. This should keep American corporatists from attacking Chavez.

Both sides know that if Chavez is attacked, he will retaliate by cutting off the oil going to the US. Their only avenue outside of a bloody coup d'etat is to try and elect a fellow corporatist in 2006 and undo Chavez' work, and if that fails, they'll aim for 2012.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. We are truly locked in a global battle between good and evil.eom.

[bridgit]

5. where's neil bush?

would somebody please put a bell around that suckers neck? Thank You!!